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S82 REPORT 

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ELEMENTARY PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 

IlVErROPE, 

MADE TO THE 

THIRTY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 



STATE OF OHIO, 

DECEMBER 19, 1837. 



BY C. E. STO"WE. 



EE-PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OF THE 

LEGISLATURE OF MASSACHUSETTS, 

MARCH 29, 183S. 



BOSTON: ' 

DUTTON AND WENTWORTH, STATE PRINTERS. 

1838. 



LA '6^4 

^ O X. tf-' 



3 OCT 1905 
D.ofD, 






REPORT 



ELEMENTARY PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, 



To His Excellency the Governor, and the Honorable the General 
Assembly of the State of Ohio : 

In March, 1836, just before I embarked for Europe, I received 
a communication from Governor Lucas, with the great seal of the 
State, enclosing the following resolves of the General Assembly, to 
icit : 

" Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That 
C. E. Stovve, Professor in one of the Literary Institutions of this 
Slate, be requested to collect, during the progress of his contem- 
plated tour in Europe, such facts and information as he may deem 
useful to the State, in relation to the various systems of put.iie in- 
struction and education, which have been adopted in the several 
countries through which he may pass, and make report thereof, with 
such practical observations as he may think proper, to the next Gen- 
eral Assembly. 

" Resolved, That His Excellency the Governor be requested to 
transmit a certified copy of the foregoing proceedings to Professor 
Stowe." 

In pursuance of the above resolutions, I communicated the inten- 
tion of the General Assembly to Hon. A. Stevenson, the American 
Minister near the British Court, and he very readily furnished me 
vviih the credentials necessary for the most satisfactory attainment of 
the object of my inquiries. I am also happy to remark, that the 



4 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

communication of Governor Lucas was a ready passport to my free 
admission to every public institution in Europe to which I applied — 
and that my endeavors were seconded in the most encouraging man- 
ner by all the gentlemen connected with the educational establish- 
ments in the several countries through which I passed ; and the 
warmest expressions of approbation were elicited of the zeal mani- 
fested by so young a state as Ohio, in the great cause of general 
education. Particularly in some of the old communities of central 
Europe, where it happened to be known that I was born in the same 
year in which Ohio became a sovereign State, it seemed to be matter 
of amusement as well as gratification, that a man who was just as old 
as the State in which he livedo had come with official authority to 
inquire respecting the best mode of education for the growing popu- 
lation of his native land ; and they remarked, that our Governor and 
Legislators must be very enlightened and highly cultivated men. 
When in one instance I informed them that our Governor was a plain 
farmer, and that a majority of our Legislators were of the same oc- 
cupation, the well known line which a Latin poet applies to husband- 
men was applied to us: 

" O fortunatos nimium si sua bona norinl." 
" Oh happy people, if they <io but appreciate their own blessing-s." 

In the progress of my tour I visited England, Scotland, France, 
Prussia, and the differeni States of Germany ; and had opportunity 
to see the celebrated Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Edinburg, 
Glasgow, Paris, Berlin, Halle, Leipsic, Heidleberg, and some oth- 
ers ; and I was everywhere received with the greatest kindness, and 
every desirable facility was afforded me foi the promotion of my 
inquiries. But knowing that a solid foundation must be laid before a 
durable superstructure can be reared, and being aware that, on this 
principle, the chief attention of our Legislature is, and for the pres- 
ent must be, directed to our common schools, my investigation of 
the Universities was comparatively brief — and the most of my time 
was spent in visiting the best district schools I could hear of, and 
also the high schools intended for the business education of young 
men, and the institutions for the education of teachers. 

Before I proceed to the result of my inquiries on these topics, I 



1838 HOUSE— No. 64. 6 

would call the attention of the Legislature to some facts of a more 
general nature, which strongly impressed themselves upon my mind 
during the progress of my tour — and which, it seems to me, have a 
very important bearing upon the successful maintenance, if not the 
very existence, of free institutions in our country. 1 allude particu- 
larly to the wonderful change which has taken place in the policy of 
monarchial governments in respect to the education of the people. 
Formerly it was supposed that despotism could be maintained only 
by a sovereign with an army devoted to his interests, and dependent 
only upon himself for subsistence ; an aristocracy which should mon- 
opolise the wealth and the intellectual culture of the entire nation ; 
and a mass of people held in entire ignorance of their rights and priv- 
ileges as men, and condemned to drudge for life for a bare and preca- 
rious subsistence — the mere dependents and slaves of the higher 
orders. But what is the aspect which the sovereignties of Europe 
now present ? — and what is the change which is forcing itself along, 
even into the despotisms of Asia and Africa ? Ever since the revo- 
lution which separated this country from the British Empire, the idea 
of popular rights has been working its way irresistibly throughout the 
civilized world : and sovereigns who have had the sagacity to see 
the unavoidable results, have adapted their measures to the new as- 
pect of the times. A new era in the history of civilization has evi- 
dently commenced, A despotic king of the Protestant faiih, dread- 
ing the evils of an ignorant and unbridled democracy, such as was 
witnessed in the French revolution, has now for forty years been 
pursuing a course of instruction for his whole people, more com- 
plete, better adapted to develope every faculty of the soul, and to 
bring into action, every capability of every kind that may exist, even 
in the poorest cottage of the most obscure corner of his kingdom, 
than has ever before been imagined. Men of the highest order of 
intellect and most extensive attainments are encouraged to devote 
themselves to the business of teaching: the best plans for the further- 
ance of this object are immediately received and generously reward- 
ed ; talent and industry, wherever they exist, are sought out and 
promoted ; and nothing is left undone that can help forward this 
great design. 

'i'he introduction of this system was preceded by political changes, 



6 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

which, considered as emanating from the government itself, have 
scarcely a parallel in the history of nations. When Frederick Wil- 
liam III. ascended the throne of Prussia in 1797, the condition of 
the people was in many respects truly deplorable. But immediately 
upon his accession he set about reforming abuses, and introducing 
improvements. The odious religious edict was abolished — the ad- 
ministration of justice was thoroughly reformed, and rigid economy 
introduced into the royal household. The exclusive privileges of 
the nobles were taken away, and their power so completely broken, 
that there is now no hereditary aristocracy which can interfere with 
the sovereign, or oppress the people. 

In 1810, the peasantry, who before had no ownership in the soil 
which they cultivated, and consequently no independence of charac- 
ter, by a royal decree, became freeholders on the following terms, 
namely : those who held their lands on perpetual lease, by giving 
up one-third, and those who held them on limited or life leases, by 
giving up one-half, to the landlord, became the owners in fee simple 
of the rest. The military is now so modelled that every citizen 
between the ages of 18 and 21 is in actual service in the standing 
army, where he is instructed in all that pertains to military life, and 
then returns to his peaceful occupations. Thus the army is made up 
entirely of citizens — and every citizen is a soldier ; and there is no 
such tiling as a standing army at the entire devotion of the sovereign, 
and independent of the people. 

The prime minister, Hardenberg, in a circular published at the 
time when these reforms were in progress, declares, that " the new 
system is based upon the principle, that every subject, personally 
free, be able to raise himself, and develope his powers freely, without 
let or hindrance from any other ; that the public burdens be borne 
in comn)on and in just proportions ; that equality before the law, be 
secured to every subject ; that justice be rigidly and punctually ad- 
ministered ; that merit in whatever rank it may be found, be enabled 
to rise without obstacle ; that the government be carried on with 
unity, order, and power ; that, by the education of the people, and 
the spread of true religion, the general interests, and a national spirit 
be promoted, as the only secure basis of the national welfare.^' 

Another European king of the Roman Catholic faith, Louis of Ba- 



1838. HOUSE— No. 64. 7 

varia, who is connected by marriage with the royal house of Prussia, 
moved by this exatnple, and excited by emulation in behalf both of 
his church and kingdom, is now zealously pushing forward the same 
experiment among his own people, and already the Bavarian schools 
begin to rival the Prussian ; and the University of Berlin finds its 
only equal in that of Munich. Louis has in one thing gone even 
beyond his brother of Prussia, in that he has granted to his people 
a real constitutional representation in the government, a privilege 
and a right ivhich the Prussians have labored in vain to extort from 
Frederick William. 

Fven the Autocrat, Nicholas of Russia, (married to a daughter of 
the Prussian monarch, who inherits much of her father's spirit,) has 
been induced to commence a similar system throughout his vast do- 
minions ; and from the reports to the emperor of M. d'OuvarofF, 
the Russian Minister of Public Instruction, it appears, that ah-eady 
from Poland to Siberia, and fiorn the White Sea to the regions 
beyond the Caucasus, including the provinces so recently wrested 
from Persia, there are the beginnings of a complete system of com- 
mon school instruction for the whole people, to be carried into full 
execution as fast as it is possible to provide the requisite number of 
qualified teachers. 

Thus three sovereigns, representing the three great divisions of 
Christendom, the Protestant, the Romish, and the Greek, are now 
zealously engaged in doing what despotic sovereigns have seldom 
done before — enlightening and educating their people ; and that too 
with better plans of instruction, and a more efficient accomplishment 
in practice than the world has ever before witnessed. Nor is the 
spirit of education confined to these nations. The kingdom of Wir- 
temberg, and the grand duchy of Baden, are not behind Prussia or 
Bavaria. The smaller states of Germany, and even old Austria, 
are pushing forward in the same career ; France is all awake ; Spain 
and Italy are beginning to open their eyes ; the government of Eng- 
land — which has hitherto neglected the education of the common 
people more than any other Protestant country of Europe — is be- 
ginning to bestir itself ; and even the Sultan of Turkey, and the 
Pacha of Egypt, are looking around for well qualified teachers to 
go among their people. In London and Paris I saw Turks, and 



8 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

Arabs, and Greeks, who had been sent by their respective govern- 
ments to these cities, for the express purpose of being educated for 
teachers in their native countries, if not for the whole people, at least 
for the favored few. At Constantinople a society has been formed 
for the promotion of useful knowledge, which publishes a monthly 
journal edited by one of the Turks who studied in Paris ; and the 
Sultan now employs a French teacher in his capital, whom he espe- 
cially invited from France. And here too in our own country, in 
the movements of New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, 
Michigan, and several other of the states, we are strongly reminded 
of the educational zeal of the age. 

In short the world seems to be awake and combining in one simul- 
taneous effort for the spread of education ; and sad indeed will be the 
condition of that community which lags behind in this universal march. 

But I wish to direct your attention to the influence which these 
wide spread systems of education in the sovereignties of Europe, 
emanating from Prussia, must exert on our own institutions. The 
sovereigns to whom I have alluded, are not only educating the peo- 
ple, but they are laying aside the pomp, the trappings, and the lavish 
expenses of royalty, and by simplicity, by rigid economy, by an en- 
ergetic and impartial administration of the government, are endeavor- 
ing to establish their thrones in the hearts of their people. 

Frederick William, in his dress, appearance, and whole deport- 
ment, is as simple and unostentatious as an Ohio farmer ; and few of 
our wealthy merchants ride in so plain a carriage, or sleep on so 
homely a bed as the monarch of Prussia. After witnessing the pa- 
geantry, the pomp and ostentation of the limited monarchy of Eng- 
land, one is astonished at the rigid simplicity of the great military 
despotism of central Europe. 

In every stage of instruction it is made a prominent object, and 
one which is repeatedly and strenuously insisted on in all the laws 
pertaining to education, to awaken a national spirit — to create in the 
youthful mind a warm attachment to his native land, and its institu- 
tions, and to fix in his affections a decided preference for the pecu- 
liarities of his own country. Indeed the whole plan (which is well 
understood to have originated in Prussia, when the rapid spread of 
republican principles first began to threaten the thrones of Europe,) 



1838. HOUSE— No. 64. 9 

evidently is to unite with the military force which always attends a 
despotism, a strong moral power over the understanding and affec- 
tions of the people. In view of this fact, an able English writer de- 
nominates the modern kingdom of Prussia, "that wonderful machine 
of state-craft — as a mere machine the most remarkable in existence — 
on the model of which most European governments are gradually 
proceeding to reform themselves." Already has this plan so far 
succeeded, that there is evidently in these countries a growing dis- 
regard for the forms of free government, provided the substance be 
enjoyed in the security and prosperity of the people. 

Republicanism can be maintained only by universal intelligence and 
virtue among the people, and disinterestedness and fidelity in the ru- 
lers. Republics are considered the natural foes to monarchies ; and 
where both start up side by side, it is taken for granted that the one 
must supplant the other. Hence their watchful jealousy of each other. 
Now when we see monarchies strengthening themselves in the man- 
ner described, are not republics exposed to double danger from vice, 
and neglect of education within themselves ? And do not patriotism 
and the necessity of self-preservation, call upon us to do more and 
better for the education of our whole people, than any despotic sove- 
reign can do for his ? Did we stand alone — were there no rival 
governments on earth — or if we were surrounded by despotisms of 
degraded and ignorant slaves, like those of the ancient oriental world; 
even then, without intelligence and virtue in the great mass of the 
people, our liberties would pass from us. How emphatically must 
this be the case now, when the whole aspect of things is changed, 
and monarchies have actually stolen a march upon republics in the 
promotion of popular intelligence ? 



EFFORTS FOR EDUCATION IN RUSSIA. 

In a former report, which was printed by order of the Legislature 

in 1836, I gave a synopsis of the governmental regulations in Prussia 

respecting education, and I have not found by investigations on the 

spot, that the statements then made require any essential modifica- 

2 



10 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

tion. [See Appendix A.] I will here, however, take the liberty 
of stating some facts respecting the governmental efforts recently 
made in Russia, to establish a system of popular education through- 
out that vast empire. These cannot but be deeply interesting to us, 
since Russia has so many points of resemblance, and of striking con- 
trast to our own country. Like the United States, her dominion ex- 
tends over an inmiense territory, comprising almost every variety of 
soil, climate, productions, and national character. Like ours, her 
educational institutions are comparatively new, and almost everything 
is to be begun in its elements ; and, like us, she has received great 
accessions to her population by immigrants from almost every nation 
of Europe. Russia is unquestionably the largest and most powerful 
of despotisms ; as the United States is the largest and most power- 
ful of republics : and, while we enjoy the greatest political freedom 
that any government has ever permitted, slie is held fast by the bonds 
of a severe autocracy. Add to this, Russia is the only European 
government, with the exception of Great Britain, whose territories 
border on our own. The fact, then, that a system of public instruction 
has been established in the Russian empire, is one of deep interest 
to us ; and no less interesting will it be for us to know something of 
the nature of the system and of the means by which it is carried into 
operation. 

The general system is that of Prussia, with such modifications as 
are necessary to adapt it to that widely extended, and, in some parts, 
semi-barbarous empire. For example, the whole empire is divided 
into provinces, each of wi)ich has a university — these provinces into 
academic districts, which are provided with their gymnasia for clas- 
sical learning, and academies for the higher branches of a business ed- 
ucation ; and these academic districts are again subdivided into 
school districts, each with its elementary school. As the heart of 
the whole system, there is at St. Petersburg a model school for the 
education of teachers of every grade, for all parts of the empire. Of 
the Universities, six had already gone into operation in 1835, name- 
ly : one at St. Petersburg, one at Moscow, one at Dorpat, in Livo- 
nia, one at Charkow, east of the river Dnieper, one at Kasan, 
on the Wolga, and one at Kiew. At other points Lyceums are 
established, with courses of study more limited than that of the 



1838. HOUSE— No. 64. 11 

Universities ; and there is an institution at Moscow, especially for 
the education of the nobility. Of course, I shall not be understood 
as recommending for adoption by us whatever I speak of with appro- 
bation in reference to foreign lands ; for the different circumstances 
of nations require entirely different systems. It is the part of a wise 
legislator to examine all the improvements within his reach, and from 
the whole, to select those parts only which are adapted to the pecu- 
liar circumstances of the people for whom he legislates. 

The different institutions in Russia are established as fast as the 
circumstances of the people admit ; and as teachers can be found to 
supply them. At the date of the last report of the Minister of Pub- 
lic Instruction, the number of elementary and parish schools was 
about 12,000 — of private schools, 430 — and of gymnasia, 57. 

The governmental regulations for cherishing in the people a desire 
for education, and directing them in the attainment of it, are wisely 
adapted to the purpose. The Minister of Public Instruction pub- 
lishes a regular periodical journal, in which he gathers up all the 
facts, information and arguments, to which his official station gives 
him access, and circulates them extensively through the nation. To 
illustrate the good faith, diligence and liberal-mindedness with which 
he executes this part of his office, I would refer to the number of his 
journal for August, 1835, in which he notices, with great approba- 
tion, the efforts of tract societies for the diffusion of moral and 
religious sentiments among the people, and mentions by name sev- 
eral publications of the American Tract Society, which have been 
translated into Russian, as having reached a third edition, and as 
being happily calculated to enlighten the intellect, and elevate the 
character of the people among whom they circulate. If the Minis- 
ter of the Emperor Nicholas shows so much readiness to receive a 
good thing even from Democratic America, we surely will not be 
so narrow-minded as to spurn a good idea because it happened first 
to develope itself in Autocratic Russia. As a farther means of pro- 
moting education, every school director and examiner undergoes a 
rigid scrutiny as to his intellectual and moral fitness for those impor- 
tant trusts ; and every candidate for civil office is strictly examined 
as to his attainments in those branches of learning requisite to the 
right performance of the official duties to which he aspires. As 



12 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

common schools are new in the Russian Empire, and as school- 
houses are to be built in every part of it, the government, knowing 
the importance of having these houses well planned and put up, has 
appointed an architect, with a salary of 1000 rubles a year, for every 
academic district, whose whole business it is to superintend the 
erecting and fitting up of the district school-houses in his particular 
province. When we recollect how many of the evils of our district 
schools result from the bad construction and wretched furniture of 
our school-houses, how completely, by these defects, the efforts of 
the best teachers may be nullified, and the minds and health of chil- 
dren, as well as their comfort, destroyed, we cannot but acknowl- 
edge this to be, for a country where every thing is to be begun from 
its foundation, a most judicious arrangement. 

Canals, and other public improvements of this kind, are now in 
great demand, and, to further them, an institution has been estab- 
lished for the express purpose of teaching the arts requisite in their 
construction ; and young men who intend to devote themselves to 
this business, are taken from the other schools and placed in this 
institution at the public expense. Special provision, also, is made 
for instruction in agriculture, and all the kindred arts, in order that 
the natural resources of the country may be fully developed. That 
religious instruction may be efficient, and, at the same time, the 
rights of conscience remain inviolate, clergymen of different christian 
denominations, where the circumstances of the people require it, are 
employed as religious teachers in the schools, their services com- 
pensated by government, and their families provided for, if necessary. 
The importance of female teachers is recognized, and every encour- 
agement is held out to young ladies to engage in this work. Private 
teachers are subject to the same rules, and the same strict inspection, 
as the teachers of public schools ; and, what is an improvement on 
the Prussian plan, if the teacher of a private school becomes super- 
annuated, or dies, in the service, his family are entitled to the same 
privileges as that of a public teacher, and receive pensions from the 
government adequate to their support and education. Thus all class- 
es of faithful teachers are regarded and treated as public benefactors, 
and considered as entitled, not merely to a bare support while toiling 
and wearing themselves out in the public service, but to national re- 
membrance and gratitude after their work is done. 



1838. HOUSE— No. 64. 13 

Though the emperor of Russia is justly accused of unpardonable 
oppression in respect to Poland, yet he does not carry his oppres- 
sion so far as to deprive the poor Polanders of the benefits of educa- 
tion, but is exerting the same laudable zeal to provide teachers for 
Poland as for any other part of his dominions. It has been found 
exceedingly difficult to obtain teachers w^ho are willing to exercise 
their calling in the cold and inhospitable regions of Siberia. To fa- 
cilitate this object, special privileges have been granted to Siberian 
teachers. Siberian young men are admitted to the university of Ka- 
san free of expense, on condition that they devote a certain number 
of years to the business of school-keeping in Siberia. To forward 
the same object, a Siberian gentleman, by the name of Ponomarew, 
gives 6000 rubles a year for the support of the parish schools of Ir- 
kutzk, quite to the north-eastern extremity of Siberia, and has obli- 
gated himself, for ten years, to pay 500 rubles a year more, for the 
encouragement of the pupils of those schools. 

Teachers from foreign countries are welcomed, and special pro- 
vision is made that their religious sentiments be not interfered with, 
as well as that they do not impose their peculiar religious notions on 
their pupils. For the perfecting of teachers in certain branches, they 
are often sent abroad, at the public expense, to study in the institu- 
tions of other countries, where these branches are most successfully 
taught. Of these, there were in 1835, thirteen in Berlin — several 
in Vienna — and one in Oxford, England. School examiners and 
school committees, as well as school teachers, are required to hold 
frequent meetings for discussion, and for mutual instruction and en- 
couragement. 

It is the policy of the Minister of Public Instruction, not to crowd 
the schools with too many pupils — but to furnish as many teachers 
as possible, particularly in the higher institutions, that each individual 
scholar may receive a due share of attention. As an illustration, I 
will refer to some of the universities. The university of St. Peters- 
burg has two hundred and thirty pupils, and fifty-two officers and 
teachers, or one teacher to every four or five students. At Mos- 
cow, four hundred and fifty-six students, one hundred and sixty-eight 
teachers and officers, or one to every two or three students. That 
of Kasan, seventy officers and teachers, to two hundred and thirty- 



14 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

eight students, or one to every three of four students. That at Kiew, 
forty-thiee officers and teachers, to sixty-two students, or nearly as 
many of the one as the other. I would remark, however, that some 
of the teachers are merely lecturers on particular branches, and take 
no active part in the discipline or instruction of the institution, and 
a few attend only to its business concerns. Some of the universities, 
also, are not full, the institutions being new, and a full corps of teach- 
ers being appointed at the commencement. With all these allow- 
ances, however, we may set it down as a principle, that in the uni- 
versities it is intended that there shall be one teacher at least to every 
eight or ten students. This may be going to excess, but it is certain 
that the ambition to multiply students beyond all the means of teach- 
ing, has been a great injury to education in American institutions. 
Education can never be what it is capable of being, unless the teach- 
er can command time to become familiar with each individual mind 
under his care, and to adapt his mode of teaching to its peculiarities. 
To instruct only in masses, and to apply the same methods of in- 
struction to all, is like throwing the drugs of an apothecary's shop 
into one great caldron — stirring them together, and giving every pa- 
tient in the hospital a portion of the mixture. 

It is peculiarly interesting in noticing the efforts of Russia, to ob- 
serve, that the blessings of a good common school education are now 
extended to tribes which from time immemorial have been in a state 
of barbarism. In the wild regions, beyond mount Caucasus, compris- 
ing the provinces recently acquired from Persia, the system of dis- 
trict schools is efficiently carried out. As early, as 1835, there were 
already established in those parts of the empire, fifteen schools, with 
sixty teachers, and about one thousand three hundred children under 
instruction ; so that in the common schools of this new and unculti- 
vated region, one teacher is provided for every twenty scholars. 
Besides this, there is a gymnasium at Tifflis, in which Asiatic lads are 
fitted to enter the European universities. 

All teachers throughout the empire, according to an ordinance of 
February 26, 1835, receive their salaries monthly ^ that their atten- 
tion may not be distracted by family cares. For the encouragement 
of entire devotedness on the part of teachers, and to prevent all soli- 
citude for the maintenance of their families, the minister of public in- 



1838. HOUSE— No. 64. 15 

struclion is authorized to grant, to the widows and orphans of those 
teachers who have particularly distinguished themselves, not only the 
usual pension, but a gratuity equal in amount to an entire salary of 
two years. 

The officers of government employed in the distant provinces of 
the empire, in the distant parts of Siberia, and on the borders of 
Persia, complained, that their remote location deprived their children 
of the advantages of the gymnasia and universities, which others en- 
joyed. To obviate this inconvenience, and to equalize as far as pos- 
sible the advantages of education, the children of these officers are 
taken to the nearest gymnasium or university, and their travelling ex- 
penses defrayed by government. All the institutions of education 
are subject to the same rigorous examination as in Prussia, and the 
minister of public instruction is, ex officio, chairman of the board of 
examiners for the universities. As the duties of this office have be- 
come very laborious, the government, in addition to a liberal supply 
of other helps, in 1 835 appointed General Count Protassow, who 
had for some time acted as a school director, assistant minister of 
public instruction. 

I have already mentioned the model institution for teachers at St. 
Petersburg. In 1835, seventy-six teachers were graduated, and the 
number is every year increasing. Under the influence of this school, 
and other governmental arrangements, the methods of teaching are 
continually improving ; and, in his report for 1835, the Minister ob- 
serves, that the moral improvement of both teacliers and pupils is 
such as to encourage the most pleasing hopes, that within the last 
two years, the national interest in the subject of education has very 
greatly increased, and that it has now become a matter of the deepest 
interest to the whole people ; and that as to the methods of instruc- 
tion, the old mechanical memoriter mode is continually giving way to 
the system of developing the faculties. Many facts are stated in 
the report, which confirm the Minister's remark, in respect to the 
growing interest in the minds of the Russian people, on the subject 
of education, illustrating the important fact, that among whatever 
people a good system of instruction is efficiently carried out, a deep 
and general interest will be excited. The nobles and the commons 
appear to emulate each other in the advancement of this cause. The 



16 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

nobility of Novgorod voluntarily contribute more than twelve thou- 
sand rubles a year for the Gymnasium in that place, and at Wologda 
the nobility contribute for a similar object nine thousand a year. At 
Cronstadt, the citizens volunteered to sustain a school at their own 
expense. At another place on the shores of the White Sea, the 
citizens have not only volunteered to maintain the school, but have 
also, of their own accord, entered into an obligation to erect a large 
and handsome stone building for the accommodation of the teachers 
and scholars. This was brought about by the zeal and activity of a 
single individual, whose name, though a barbarous one, ought here 
to be mentioned — Wassiligi Kologriew. This gentleman volunteer- 
ed as an agent to promote the cause of education in the place of his 
residence, and besides giving his time and efforts, bore an equal 
share in all the expenses, and in addition, made a distinct donation of 
2500 rubles for the advancement of the cause. 

Another gentleman at Archangel, by the name of Kowalewsky, 
made a journey to a distant neighborhood inhabited by Samoiedes, 
Sirianes and other half barbarous tribes, to explain to them the ad- 
vantages of education, and endeavor to establish a school among 
them. In this he was warmly seconded by the clergyman of the 
place, and, as the result of it, a single peasant or farmer, by the name 
of Anuphriew, engaged to support the school entirely for two years, 
and after that to contribute 300 rubles a year for five years longer, 
and in addition to this he contributed 1500 rubles for the erection of 
a school-house. The chief magistrate of the place also contributed, 
and allured by these examples the Sirianes put down nearly 15,000 
rubles ; and as soon as the requisite preparations could be made, the 
school was opened with great solemnity and appropriate ceremonies, 
in the midst of an immense concourse of intensely interested spec- 
tators. I shall be greatly disappointed if we cannot find in Ohio, 
enlightened men in our cities, and farmers in the country, willing to 
do as much for education as the gentleman of Archangel, and the 
hard-working peasant of the frozen regions of northern Russia. 

A merchant by the name of Pluessin in Lialsk, made a donation 
of 10,000 rubles for the foundation of a district school in that place, 
and offered in addition, to have the school kept in his own house, 
and to furnish it with firewood for three years. Tschistow, a citi- 



1838. HOUSE— No. 64. 17 

zen of Moscow, gave 2300 rubles for the purchase of school books, 
to be distributed among the poor children of the first school district 
in that city. 

Numerous other instances might be mentioned of donations from 
persons in all ranks in society — in money, books, houses, fuel, or 
whatever they had it in their power to give for the support of schools ; 
but the above may be sufficient to show the spirit of the people and 
excite us to emulation. 

It must be observed that the government makes provision for the 
maintenance of all the district schools, gymnasia and Universities ; 
and that this liberality of private citizens arises from pure zeal for 
the cause, and is applied to the extending and increasing the advan- 
tages derived from governmental patronage, to the purchase of books 
and clothing for the poorer children, the establishment of school 
libraries, and the providing of suitable rewards for meritorious teach- 
ers and pupils, and securing the means of access to the school-house, 
and proper furniture for it. Every effort is made to provide a plen- 
tiful supply of good school books, and to establish suitable libraries 
for the use of teachers. Quite recently, a Russian lady, a Miss 
Darzoff, received from the government a premium of 2500 rubles 
for compiling a little work, entitled " Useful Readings for Chil- 
dren." 

In view of such facts as these, who is not ready to exclaim : 
" Well done, cold, semi-barbarous, despotic Russia ! — may other 
nations more favored by nature and Providence emulate thy ex- 
ample !" 

Internal arrangements of the Prussian Schools. 

I will now ask your attention to a few facts respecting the inter- 
nal management of the schools in Prussia and some other parts of 
Germany, which were impressed on my mind by a personal inspec- 
tion of those establishments. 

One of the circumstances that interested me most was the excel- 
lent order and rigid economy with which all the Prussian institutions 
are conducted. Particularly in large boarding schools, where hun- 
dreds, and sometimes thousands of youth are collected together, the 



IS PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

benefits of the system are strikingly manifest. Every boy is taught 
to wait upon himself — to keep his person, clothing, furniture, and 
books, in perfect order and neatness ; and no extravagance in dress, 
and no waste of fuel or food, or property of any kind is permitted. 
Each student has his own single bed, which is generally a light mat- 
trass, laid upon a frame of slender bars of iron, because such bed- 
steads are not likely to be infested by insects, and each one makes 
his own bed and keeps it in order. In the house, there is a place 
for every thing and every thing must be in its place. In one closet 
are the shoe-brushes and blacking, in another the lamps and oil, in 
another the fuel. At the doors are good mats and scrapers, and 
every thing of the kind necessary for neatness and comfort, and 
every student is taught, as carefully as he is taught any other lesson, 
to make a proper use of all these articles at the right time, and then 
to leave them in good order at their proper places. Every instance 
of neglect is sure to receive its appropriate reprimand, and if neces- 
sary, severe punishment. I know of nothing that can benefit us 
more than the introduction of such oft-repeated lessons on careful- 
ness and frugality into all our educational establishments ; for the 
contrary habits of carelessness and wastefulness, notwithstanding all 
the advantages which we enjoy, have already done us immense mis- 
chief. Very many of our families waste and throw away nearly as 
much as they use ; and one third of the expenses of housekeeping 
might be saved by system and frugality. It is true, we have such an 
abundance of every thing that this enormous waste is not so sensibly 
felt as it would be in a more densely populated region ; but it is not 
always to be so with us. The productions of our country for some 
years past have by no means kept pace with the increase of con- 
sumption, and many an American family during the last season has 
felt a hard pressure, where they never expected to feel one. 

Especially should this be made a branch of female education, and 
studied faithfully and perseveringly by all who are to be wives and 
mothers, and have the care of families. 

The universal success also and very beneficial results, with which 
the arts of drawing and designing, vocal and instrumental music, 
moral instruction and the Bible, have been introduced into schools, 
was another fact peculiarly interesting to me. I asked all the teach- 



183S. HOUSE— No. 64. 19 

ers with whom I conversed, whether they did not sometimes find 
children who were actually incapable of learning to draw and to sing. 
I have had but one reply, and that was, that they found the same 
diversity of natural talent in regard to these as in regard to reading, 
writing, and the other branches of education ; but they had never 
seen a child who was capable of learning to read and write, who 
could not be taught to sing well and draw neatly, and that too with- 
out taking any time which would at all interfere with, indeed which 
would not actually promote his progress in other studies. In regard 
to the necessity of moral instruction and the beneficial influence of 
the Bible in schools, the testimony was no less explicit and uniform. 
I inquired of all classes of teachers, and men of every grade of reli- 
gious faith, instructors in common schools, high schools, and schools 
of art, of professors in colleges, universities and professional semin- 
aries, in cities and in the country, in places where there was a 
uniformity and in places where was a diversity of creeds, of be- 
lievers and unbelievers, of rationalists and enthusiasts, of Catholics 
and Protestants ; and I never found but one reply, and that was, that 
to leave the moral faculty uninstructed was to leave the most impor- 
tant part of the human mind undeveloped, and to strip education of 
almost every thing that can make it valuable ; and that the Bible, 
independently of the interest attending it, as containing the most 
ancient and influential writings ever recorded by human hands, and 
comprising the religious system of almost the whole of the civilized 
world, is in itself the best book that can be put into the hands of 
children to interest, to exercise, and to unfold their intellectual and 
moral powers. Every teacher whom I consulted, repelled with 
indignation the idea that moral instruction is not proper for schools ; 
and spurned with contempt the allegation, that the Bible cannot be 
introduced into common schools without encouraging a sectarian bias 
in the matter of teaching ; an indignation and contempt which I be- 
lieve will be fully participated in by every high-minded teacher in 
Christendom. 

A few instances, to illustrate the above mentioned general state- 
ments, I here subjoin : — Early in September I visited the Orphan 
House at Halle, an institution founded by the benevolence of Franke, 
about the year 1700, and which has been an object of special favor 



20 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

with the present king of Prussia. It now contains from 2700 to 
3000 boys, most of them orphans sustained by charity. After ex- 
amining its extensive grounds, its commodious and neat buildings, 
its large book store, its noble printing establishment, for printing the 
Bible in the oriental and modern languages, its large apothecary's 
shop, for the dispensation of medicine to the poor, and the exquisite- 
ly beautiful statue of its founder, erected by Frederic William III ; 
I was invited by Drs. Guerike and Netto to go into the dining-hall 
and see the boys partake of their supper. The hall is a very long 
and narrow room, and furnished the whole length of each side with 
short tables like the mess tables on board a man of war, each table 
accommodating about twelve boys. The tables were without cloths, 
but very clean, and were provided with little pewter basins of warm 
soup, and just as many pieces of dark and coarse, but very whole- 
some, bread, as there were to be boys at the table. When the bell 
rang, the boys entered in a very quiet and orderly manner, each with 
a little pewter spoon in his hand. When they had arranged them- 
selves at table, at a signal from the teacher one of the boys ascended 
a pulpit near the centre of the hall, and in the most appropriate man- 
ner supplicated the blessing of God upon their frugal repast. The 
boys then each took his bit of bread in one hand, and with his spoon 
in the other, made a very quiet and healthful meal. They then 
united in singing two or three verses of a hymn, and retired in the 
same quiet and orderly manner in which they had entered. It being 
warm weather, they were dressed in jackets and trowsers of clean, 
coarse brown linen ; and a more cheerful, healthy, intelligent set of 
youthful faces and glistening eyes I never saw before ; and notwith- 
standing the gravity with which they partook of their supper and left 
the hall, when fairly in the yard, there was such a pattering of little 
feet, such a chattering of German, and such skipping and playing, as 
satisfied me that none of their boyish spirits had been broken by the 
discipline of the school. 

At Weisenfels, near Lutzen where the great battle was fought in 
the thirty years' war, there is a collection of various schools, under 
the superintendence of Dr. Harnisch, in what was formerly a large 
convent. Among the rest there is one of those institutions peculiar 
to Prussia, in which the children of very destitute families are taken 



183S HOUSE— No. 64. 21 

and educated at the public expense, to become teachers in poor vil- 
lages where they can never expect to receive a large compensation ; 
institutions of a class which we do not need here, because no villages 
in this country need be poor. Of course, though they have all the 
advantages of scientific advancement enjoyed in the most favored 
schools, frugality and self-denial form an important part of their edu- 
cation. Dr. Harnisch invited me to this part of the establishment 
to see these boys dine. When I came to the room, they were sit- 
ting at their writing tables, engaged in their studies as usual. At the 
ringing of the bell they arose. Some of the boys left the room, and 
the others removed the papers and books from the tables, and laid 
them away in their places. Some of the boys who had gone out, 
then re-entered with clean, coarse table cloths in their hands, which 
they spread over their writing tables. These were followed by oth- 
ers with loaves of brown bread, and plates provided with cold meat 
and sausages, neatly cut in slices, and jars of water, which they ar- 
ranged on the table. Of these materials, after a short religious ser- 
vice, they made a cheerful and hearty meal ; then arose, cleared 
away their tables, swept their room, and after a suitable season of 
recreation, resumed their studies. They are taught to take care of 
themselves, independent of any help, and their only luxuries are the 
fruits and plants which they cultivate with their own hands, and which 
grow abundantly in the gardens of the institution. 

INSTITUTIONS FOR REFORMATION. 

At Berlin, I visited an establishment for the reformation of youth- 
ful offenders. Here boys are placed, who have committed oflences 
that bring them under the supervision of the police, to be instructed, 
and rescued from vice, instead of being hardened in iniquity, by liv- 
ing in the common prison with old offenders. It is under ihe care 
of Dr. Kopf, a most simple-hearted, excellent old gentleman ; just 
such an one as reminds us of the ancient christians, who lived in the 
times of the persecution, simplicity and purity of the christian church. 
He has been very successful in reclaiming the young offender, and 
many an one, who would otherwise have been forever lost, has, by the 
influence of this institution, been saved to himself — to his country — 



22 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

and to God. It is a manual labor school ; and to a judicious inter- 
mingling of study and labor, religious instruction, kind treatment and 
necessary severity, it has owed its success. When I was there, 
most of the boys were employed in cutting screws for the rail-road 
which the government was then constructing betw^een Berlin and 
Leipsic ; and there were but few who could not maintain themselves 
by their labor. As I was passing with Dr. K. from room to room, 
I heard some beautiful voices singing in an adjoining apartment, and 
on entering I found about twenty of the boys, sitting at a long table, 
making clothes for the establishment, and singing at their work. 
The Dr. enjoyed my surprise, and on going out, remarked — " I 
always keep these litde rogues singing at their work, for while the 
children sing, the devil cannot come among them at all ; he can only 
sit out doors there and growl ; but if they stop singing, in the devil 
comes." — The Bible and the singing of religious hymns, are among 
the most efficient instruments which he employs for softening the 
hardened heart, and bringing the vicious and stubborn will to docility. 
A similar establishment in the neighborhood of Hamburg, to 
which I was introduced by Dr. Julius, who is known to many of 
our citizens, afforded striking examples of the happy influence of 
moral and religious instruction, in reclaiming the vicious and saving 
the lost. Hamburg is the largest commercial city of Germany, and 
its population is extremely crowded. Though it is highly dis- 
tinguished for its benevolent institutions, and for the hospitality and 
integrity of its citizens, yet the very circumstances in which it is 
placed, produce among the lowest class of its population, habits of 
degradation and beastliness, of which we have but few examples on 
this side the Atlantic. The children, therefore, received into this 
institution, are often of the very worst and most hopeless character. 
Not only are their minds most thoroughly depraved, but their very 
senses and bodily organization seem to partake in the viciousness 
and degradation of their hearts. Their appetites are so perverted, 
that sometimes the most loathsome and disgusting substances are 
preferred to wholesome food. The Superintendent, Mr. Wichern, 
states, that though plentifully supplied with provisions, yet when first 
received, some of them will steal and eat soap, rancid grease that 
has been laid aside for the purpose of greasing shoes, and even catch 



1S3S. HOUSE— No. 64. 23 

May-bugs and devour them ; and it is with the utmost difficuhy that 
these disgusting habits are broken up. An ordinary man might sup- 
pose that the task of restoring such poor creatures to decency and 
good morals was entirely hopeless. Not so with Mr. Wichern. He 
took hold with the firm hope that the moral power of the word of God 
is competent even to such a task. His means are prayer, the Bible, 
singing, affectionate conversation, severe punishment when unavoidable, 
and constant steady employment, in useful labor. On one occasion, 
when every other means seemed to fail, he collected the children 
together, and read to them, in the words of the New Testament, the 
simple narrative of the sufTerings and death of Christ, with some re- 
marks on the design and object of his mission to this world. The 
effect was wonderful. They burst into tears of contrition, and dur- 
ing the whole of that term, from June till October, the influence of 
this scene was visible in all their conduct. The idea that takes so 
strong a hold when the character of Christ is exhibited to such poor 
creatures, is, that they are objects of affection ; miserable, wicked, 
despised as they are, yet Christ, the son of God, loved them, and 
loved them enough to suffer and to die for them — and still loves 
them. The thought that they can yet be loved, melts the heart, and 
gives them hope, and is a strong incentive to reformation. 

On another occasion, when considerable progress had been made 
in their moral education, the Superintendent discovered that some of 
them had taken nails from the premises, and applied them to their 
own use, without permission. He called them together, expressed 
his great disappointment and sorrow that they had profited so little 
by the instructions which had been given them, and told them that 
till he had evidence of their sincere repentance, he could not admit 
them to the morning and evening religious exercises of his family. 
With expressions of deep regret for their sin, and with promises, 
entreaties, and tears, they begged to have this privilege restored to 
them ; but lie was firm in his refusal. A few evenings afterward, 
while walking in the garden, he heard youthful voices among the 
shrubbery ; and drawing near unperceived, he found that the boys 
had formed themselves into little companies of seven or eight each, 
and met morning and evening in different retired spots in the garden, 
to sing, read the Bible and pray among themselves ; to ask God to 



24 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

forgive them the sins they had committed, and to give them strength 
to resist temptation in future. With such evidence of repentance 
he soon restored to them the privilege of attending morning and 
evening prayers with his family. — One morning soon after, on enter- 
ing his study, he found it all adorned with wreaths of the most beau- 
tiful flowers, which the boys had arranged there at early day-break, 
in testimony of their joy and gratitude for his kindness. Thus rap- 
idly had these poor creatures advanced in moral feeling, religious 
sensibility, and good taste. 

In the spring, Mr. VVichern gives to each boy a patch of ground 
in the garden, which he is to call his own, and cultivate as he pleases. 
One of the boys began to erect a little hut of sticks and earih upon 
his plot, in which he might rest during the heat of the day, and to 
which he might retire when he wished to be alone. When it was 
all finished, it occurred to him to dedicate it to its use by religious 
ceremonies. Accordingly, he collected the boys together. The 
hut was adorned with wreaths of flowers, a little table was placed in 
the centre on which lay the open Bible, ornamented in the same 
manner. He then read with great seriousness the 14th, 15, and 
24th verses of the cxviii. Psalm : 

" The Lord is 1113' strength and my song, and is become my salvation." 

" The voice of rejoicing and salvation is heard in the tabernacles of the righteous.'' 

" This is the day which the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in it." 

After this, die exercises were concluded by singing and prayer. 
Another boy afterwards built him a hut, which was to be dedicated 
in a similar way ; but when the boys came together, they saw in it a 
piece of timber which belonged to the establishment, and ascertain- 
ing that it had been taken without permission, they at once demolish- 
ed the whole edifice, and restored the timber to its place. At the 
time of harvest, when they first entered the field to gather the pota- 
toes, before commencing the work, they formed into a circle, and 
much to the surprise of the Superintendent, broke out together into 
the harvest hymn : 

" Now let us ail thank God." 

After singing this, they fell to their work with great cheerfulness and 
vigor. 



183S. HOUSE— No. 64. 25 

I mention these instances, from numerous others which might be 
produced, to show how much may be done in reclaiming the most 
hopeless youthful offenders by a judicious application of the right 
means of moral influence. How short-sighted and destructive, then, 
is the policy which would exclude such influence from our public 
institutions ! The same effects have been produced by houses of 
reformation in our own country. I would mention, as one instance, 
the institution of Mr. Welles in Massachusetts. 

Now, laying aside all considerations of benevolence and of reli- 
gious obligation, is it not for the highest good of the State, that these 
minds should be withdrawn from vice and trained up to be enlight- 
ened and useful citizens, contributing a large share to the public 
wealth, virtue and happiness ; rather than that they should come for- 
ward in life miserable criminals, of no use to themselves or the pub- 
lic, depredating on the property and violating the rights of the indus- 
trious citizens, increasing the public burdens by their crimes, endan- 
gering the well being of society, and undermining our liberties ! 
They can be either the one or the other, according as we choose to 
educate them ourselves in the right way, or leave them to be edu- 
cated by the thieves and drunkards in our streets, or the convicts in 
our prisons. The efforts made by some foreign nations to educate 
this part of their population, is a good lesson for us. All the schools 
and houses of reformation in Prussia, do not cost the government so 
much as old England is obliged to expend in prisons and constables 
for the regulation of that part of her population, for which the gov- 
ernment provides no scliools but the hulks and the jails ; and I leave 
it to any one to say which arrangement produces the greatest amount 
of public happiness. 

When I was in Berlin I went into the public prison, and visited 
every part of the establishment. At last I was introduced to a very 
large hall which was full of children, with their books and teachers, 
and having all the appearance of a common Prussian school-room. 
" What, said I, is it possible that all these children are imprisoned 
here for crime .'"' "Oh no," said my conductor, smiling at my 
simplicity, "but if a parent is imprisoned for crime, and on that ac- 
count his children are left destitute of the means of education, and 
liable to grow up in ignorance and crime, the government has them 
4 



26 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

taken here, and maintained and educated for useful employment." 
The thought brought teats to my eyes. This was anew idea to me. 
I know not that il has ever been suggested in the United Siaies ; but 
surely it is the duty of government, as well as its highest interest, 
when a man is paying the penally of his crime in a pubHc prison, to 
see that his unoffending children are not left to sufier, and to inherit 
their father's vices. Surely it would be better for the child, and 
cheaper as well as better, for the State. Let it not be supposed 
that a man would go to prison for the sake of having his children 
taken care of, for they who go to prison usually have little regard for 
their children ; and if they had, discipline like that of the Berlin 
prison would soon sicken them of such a bargain. 

Where education is estimated according to its real value, people 
are willing to expend money for the support of schools ; and if ne- 
cessary, to deny themselves some physical advantages for the sake 
of giving their children tiie blessings of moral and intellectual cul- 
ture. In the government of Baden, four per cent of all the public 
expense is for education — they have a school with an average of 
two or three well qualified teachers to every three miles of territory, 
and every one bundled children ; and that too, when the people are 
so poor that they can seldom afford any other food than dry barley- 
bread, and a farmer considers it a luxury to be able to allow his fami- 
ly the use of butler-milk three or four times a year. In Prussia, 
palaces and convents are every where turned into houses of educa- 
tion ; and accommodations originally provided for princes and bish- 
ops are not considered too good for the schoolmaster and his pupils. 
But, though occupying palaces, they have no opportunity to be idle 
or luxurious. Hard labor and frugal living are every where the in- 
dispensable conditions to a teacher's life, and I must say, that I have 
no particular wish that it should be otherwise ; for it is only those 
who are willing to work hard and live frugally, that ever do much 
good in such a world as this. 

I pass now to the consideration of a question of the deepest in- 
terest to us all, and that is, can the common schools in our State be 
made adequate to the wants of our population ? I do not hesitate 
to answer this question decidedly in the affirmative ; and to show 
that I give this answer on good grounds, I need only to state the 



1838. HOUSE— No. 64. 27 

proper object of education, and lay before you what is actually now 
done towards accomplishing this object in the common schools of 
Prussia and Wirtemberg. 

What is the proper object of education? The proper object of ed- 
ucation is a thorough developement of all the intellectual and moral 
powers — the awakening and calling forth of every talent that may 
exist, even in the remotest and obscurest corner of the State, and 
giving it a useful direction. A system that will do this, and such a 
system only, do I consider adequate to the wants of our population ; 
such a system, and such a system only, can avert all the evils and 
produce all the benefits which our common schools were designed to 
avert and produce. True, such a system must be far more exten- 
sive and complete than any now in operation among us — teachers 
must be more numerous, skilful, persevering, and self-denying — pa- 
rents must take greater interest in the schools and do more for their 
support — and the children must attend punctually and regularly, till 
the whole prescribed course is completed. All this can be done, 
and I hope will be done ; and to show that the thing is really practi- 
cable, I now ask your attention to the course of instruction in the 
common schools of Prussia and Wirtemberg, and other European 
States, which have done the most in the matter of public instruction. 

COURSE OF INSTRUCTION IN THE COMMON SCHOOLS OF PRUSSIA 
AND WIRTEMBERG. 

The whole course comprises eight years, and includes children 
from the ages of six till fourteen ; and it is divided into four parts, of 
two years each. It is a first principle, that the children be well ac- 
commodated as to house and furniture. The school-room must be 
well constructed, the seats convenient, and the scholars made com- 
fortable, and kept interested. The younger pupils are kept at school 
but four hours in the day — two in the morning and two in the even- 
ing, with a recess at the close of each hour. The older, six hours, 
broken by recesses as often as is necessary. Most of the school- 
houses have a bathing place, a garden and a mechanics' shop attached 
to them, to promote the cleanliness and health of the children, and 
to aid in mechanical and agricultural instruction. It will be seen by 



28 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

the schedule which follows, that a vast amount of instruction is given 
during these eight years — and, lest it should seem that so many- 
branches must confuse the young mind, and that they must necessa- 
rily be but partially taught, I will say in the outset, that the industry, 
skill and energy of teachers regularly trained to their business, and 
depending entirely upon it ; the modes of teaching ; the habit of al- 
ways finishing whatever is begun ; the perfect method which is pre- 
served ; the entire punctuality and regularity of attendence on the 
part of the scholars ; and other things of this kind, facilitate a rapidi- 
ty and exactness of acquisition and discipline, which may well seem 
incredible to those who have never witnessed it. 

The greatest care is taken that acquisition does not go beyond dis- 
cipline ; and that the taxation of mind be kept entirely and clearly 
within the constitutional capacity of mental and physical endurance. 
The studies must never weary, but always interest — the appetite for 
knowledge must never be cloyed, but be kept always sharp and 
eager. These purposes are greatly aided by the frequent inter- 
change of topics, and by lively conversational exercises. Before 
the child is even permitted to learn his letters, he is under conversa- 
tional instruction, frequently for six months or a year ; and then a 
single week is sufficient to introduce him into intelligible and accu- 
rate plain reading. 

Every week is systematically divided, and every hour appropriated. 
The scheme for the week is written on a large sheet of paper, 
and fixed in a prominent part of the school-room, so that every 
scholar knows what his business will be for every hour in the week ; 
and the plan thus marked out is rigidly followed. As a specimen I 
present the following study sheet given me by Dr. Diestervveg, of 
Berlin, and which was the plan for his school when I visited it in 
September, 1830. 



1838. 



HOUSE— No. 64. 



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1838. HOUSE— No. C4. 31 

Through all the parts of the course there are frequent reviews and 
repetitions, that the impressions left on the mind may be distinct, 
lively and permanent. The exercises of the day are always com- 
menced and closed with a short prayer ; and the bible and hymn 
book are the first volumes put into the pupil's hands, and these books 
they always retain and keep in constant use during the whole pro- 
gress of their education. 

The general outline of the eight years' course is nearly as follows: 
I. First part, of two years, including children from six to eight 
years old — four principal branches, namely: 

1. Logical Exercises, or oral teaching in the exercise of the 
powers of observation and expression, including religious instruction 
and the singing of hymns ; 

2. Elements of Reading ; 

3. Elements of Writing ; 

4. Elements of Nufuber, or Arithmetic. 

II. Second part, of two years, including children from eight to 
ten years old — seven principal branches, namely: 

1. Exercises in Reading ; 

2. Exercises in Writing ; 

3. Religious and Moral Instruction, in select Bible Narratives ; 

4. Language, or Grammar ; 

5. Numbers, or Arithmetic ; 

6. Doctrine of space and form, or Geometry ; 

7. Singing by note, or Elements of Music. 

III. Third part, of two years, including children from ten to 
twelve years old — eight principal branches: 

1. Exercises in Reading and Elocution ; 

2. Exercises in Ornamental Writing, preparatory to drawing ; 

3. Religious Instruction in the connected Bible history ; 

4. Language, or Grammar, with parsing ; 

5. Real Instruction, or knowledge of nature and the external 
world, including the first elements of the sciences and the arts of life 
— of geography and history ; 

6. Arithmetic, continued through fractions and the rules of pro- 
portion ; 

7. Geometry — doctrine of magnitudes and measures ; 

8. Singing, and science of vocal and instrumental music. 



32 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

IV. Fourth part^ of two years., including children from twelve to 
fourteen years old — six principal branches., namely: 

1. Religions Instruction in the religious observation of nature ; 
the life and discourses of Jesus Christ ; the history of the Christian 
religion, in connection with the cotemporary civil history ; and the 
doctrines of Christianity ; 

2. Knowledge of the world, and of mankind, including civil 
society, elements of law, agriculture, mechanic arts, manufactures, 
&c. ; 

3. Language, and exercises in composition ; 

4. Application of arithmetic and the mathematics to the business 
of life, including surveying and civil engineering ; 

5. Elements of Drawing ; 

6. Exercises in Singing, and the science of music. 

We subjoin a few specimens of the modes of teaching under sev- 
eral of the above divisions. 

I. First part, Children from six to eight years of age. 

1. Conversations between the teacher and pupils, intended to ex- 
ercise the powers of observation and expression. 

The teacher brings the children around him, and engages them in 
familiar conversation with himself. He generally addresses them 
altogether, and they all reply simultaneously ; but whenever necessa- 
ry, he addresses an individual, and requires the individual to answer 
alone. He first directs their attention to the different objects in the 
school-room, their position, form, color, size, materials of which they 
are made, &.c., and requires precise and accurate descriptions. He 
then requires them to notice the various objects that meet their eye 
in the way to their respective homes ; and a description of these ob- 
jects and the circumstances under which they saw them, will form 
the subject of the next morning's lesson. Then the house in which 
they live ; the shop in which their father works ; the garden in which 
they walk, &c., will be the subject of the successive lessons ; and in 
this way for six months or a year, the children are taught to study 
things, to use their own powers of observation, and speak with 



1838. HOUSE— No. 64. 33 

readiness and accuracy, before books are put into their hands at all. 
A few specimens will make the nature and utility of this mode of 
teaching perfectly obvious. 

In a school in Berlin a boy has assigned him for a lesson, a de- 
scription of the remarkable objects in certain directions from the 
school-house, which is situated in Little Cathedral street. He 
proceeds as follows: " When I come out of the school-house in- 
to Little Cathedral street, and turn to the right, I soon pass on 
my left hand the Maria place, the Gymnasium and the Anklam 
gate. When I come out of Little Cathedral street, I see on my 
left hand the White Parade place, and within that, at a little dis- 
tance, the beautiful statue of Frederick the Great, King of Prus- 
sia. It is made of white marble, and stands on a pedestal of va- 
riegated marble, and is fenced in with an iron railing. From 
here, I have on my right a small place, which is a continuation 
of the Parade Place ; and at the end of this, near the wall, I see 
St. Peter's Church, or the Wall street church, as it is sometimes 
called. This church has a green yard before it, planted with trees, 
which is called the Wall Church Yard. St. Peter's Church is the 
oldest church in the city ; it has a little round tower, which looks 
green, because it is mostly covered with copper, which is made green 
by exposure to the weather. When I go out of the school-house 
to the lower part of Little Cathedral street by the Coal market, 
through Shoe street and Carriage street, I come to the Castle. The 
Castle is a large building, with two small towers, and is built around 
a square yard, which is called the Casile yard. In the Castle there 
are two churches, and the King and his Ministers of State, and the 
Judges of the Supreme Court, and Consistory of the Church, hold 
their meetings there. From the Coal market, I go through Shoe 
street to the Hay market, and adjoining this is the New Market, 
which was formed after St. Nicholas' Church was burnt, which 
formerly stood in that place. Between the Hay market and the 
New market is the City Hall, where the officers and magistrates of 
the city hold their meetings." 

If a garden is given to a class for a lesson, they are asked the size 
of the garden, its shape, which they may draw on a slate with a pen- 
cil — whether there are trees in it — what the different parts of a tree 
5 



34 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

are — what parts grow in the spring, and what parts decay in autumn, 
and what parts remain the same throughout the winter — whether any 
of the trees are fruit trees — what fruits they bear — when they ripen 
— how they look and taste — whether the fruit be wholesome or 
otherwise — whether it is prudent to eat much of it ; — what plants 
and roots there are In the garden, and what use is made of them — 
what flowers there are, and how they look, &,c. The teacher may 
then read them the description of the garden of Eden in the second 
chapter of Genesis — sing a hymn with them, the imagery of which 
is taken from the fruits and blossoms of a garden, and explain to 
them how kind and bountiful God is, who gives us such wholesome 
plants and fruits, and such beautiful flowers, for our nourishment and 
gratification. 

The external heavens also make an interesting lesson. The sky 
— its appearance and color at different times ; the clouds — their 
color, their varying form and movements ; the sun — its rising and 
setting, its concealment by clouds, its warming the earth and giving 
it life and fertility, its great heat in summer, and the danger of being 
exposed to it unprotected ; the moon — its appearance by night, full, 
gibbous, horned ; its occasional absence from the heavens ; the stars 
— their shining, difference among them, their number, distance from 
us, &c. In this connection the teacher may read to them the eigh- 
teenth and nineteenth Psalms, and other passages of scripture of that 
kind, sing with them a hymn celebrating the glory of God in the 
creation, and enforce the moral bearing of such contemplations by 
appropriate remarks. A very common lesson is, the family and 
family duties — love to parents, love to brothers and sisters — con- 
cluding with appropriate passages from scripture, and singing a fam- 
ily hymn. 

2d. Elements of Reading. 

After a suitable time spent in the exercises above described, the 
children proceed to learn the elements of reading. The first step 
is to exercise the organs of sound, till they have perfect command 
of their vocal powers, and this, after the previous discipline in con- 
versation and singing, is a task soon accomplished. They are then 
taught to utter distinctly all the vowel sounds. The characters or 
letters representing these sounds are then shown and described to 



1838. HOUSE— No. 64. 35 

them till the form and power of each are distinctly impressed upon 
their memories. The same process is then gone through in respect 
to diphthongs and consonants. Last of all, after having acquired a 
definite and distinct view of the different sounds, and of the forms 
of the letters which respectively represent these sounds, they are 
taught the names of these letters, with the distinct understanding that 
the name of a letter and the power of a letter, are two very different 
things. 

They are now prepared to commence reading. The letters are 
printed in large form on square cards, the class stands up before a 
sort of rack, the teacher holds the cards in his hand, places one 
upon the rack, and a conversation of this kind passes between him 
and his pupils : What letter is that ? H. He places another on the 
rack — What letter is that ? A. I now put these two letters to- 
gether, thus, (moving the cards close together), HA — What sound 
do these two letters signify ? Ha. There is another letter — What 
letter is that ? (putting it on the rack.) R. T now put this third 
letter to the other two, thus, HAR— -What sound do the three let- 
ters make ? Har. There is another letter — What is it ? D. I 
join this letter to the other three, thus, HARD — What do they all 
made .'' Hard. Then he proceeds in the same way with the let- 
ters F-I-S-T ; joins these four letters to the preceding four, HARD- 
FIST, and the pupils pronounce, Hard-fist. Then with the letters 
E and D, and joins these two to the preceding eight, and the pupils 
pronounce Hard-fisted. In this way they are taught to read words 
of any length — (for you may easily add to the above, N-E-S-S, and 
make Hard-fistedness) — the longest as easily as the shortest ; and 
in fact they learn their letters ; they learn to read words of one sylla- 
ble and of several syllables, and to read in plain reading by the same 
process at the same moment. After having completed a sentence, 
or several sentences, with the cards and rack, they then proceed to 
read the same words and sentences in their spelling books. 

3. Elements of Writing. 

The pupils are first taught the right position of the arms and 
body in writing, the proper method of holding the pen, &c. ; and 
are exercised on these points till their habits are formed correctly. 
The different marks used in writing are then exhibited to them, from 



36 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

the simple point or straight hne, to the most complex figure. The 
variations of form and position which they are capable of assuming, 
and the different parts of which the complex figures are composed 
are carefully described, and the student is taught to imitate them, 
beginning with the most simple, then the separate parts of the com- 
plex, then the joining of the several parts to a whole, with his pencil 
and slate. After having acquired facility in this exercise he is pre- 
pared to write with his ink and paper. The copy is written upon 
the black-board ; the paper is laid before each member of the class, 
and each has his pen ready in his hand awaiting the word of his 
teacher. If the copy be the simple point, or line /, the teacher 
repeats the syllable one, one, slowly at first, and with gradually in- 
creasing speed, and at each repetition of the sound the pupils write. 
In this way they learn to make the mark both correctly and rapidly. 
If the figure to be copied consist of two strokes, (thus, ^,) the 
teacher pronounces one, two, one tioo, slowly at first, and then rap- 
idly as befoi'e ; and the pupils make the first mark, and then the 
second, at the sound of each syllable as before. If the figure con- 
sist of three strokes, (thus, i,) the teacher pronounces 07ie, two, 
three, and the pupils write as before. So when they come to 
make letters — the letter a has five strokes, thus, a- When that is 
the copy, the teacher says deliberately, one, two, three, four, jive, 
and at the sound of each syllable the different strokes composing the 
letter are made ; the speed of utterance is gradually accelerated, till 
finally the a is made very quickly, and at the same time neatly. By 
this method of teaching, a plain, neat and quick hand is easily ac- 
quired. 

4. Elements of Number, or Arithmetic. 

In this branch of instruction I saw no improvements in the mode 
of teaching not already substantially introduced into the best schools 
of our own country. I need not, therefore, enter into any details 
respecting them — excepting so far as to say that the student is taught 
to demonstrate and perfectly to understand the reason and nature of 
every rule before he uses it. 

(See Arithmetics, by Colburn, Ray, Miss Beecher and others.) 



1838. HOUSE— No. 64. 37 



II. Second part — Children from eight to ten years of age. 

1. Exercises in Reading. 

The object of these exercises in this part of ihe course, is to 
acquire the habit of reading with accuracy and readiness, with due 
regard to punctuation, and with reference to orthography. Some- 
times the whole class read together, and sometimes an individual by 
himself, in order to accustom them to both modes of reading, and to 
secure the advantages of both. The sentence is first gone through 
with in the class, by distinctly spelling each word as it occurs ; then 
by pronouncing each word distinctly without spelling it ; a third 
time, by pronouncing the words and mentioning the punctuation 
points as they occur. A fourth time, the sentence is read with the 
proper pauses indicated by the punctuation points, without mention- 
ing them. Finally, the same sentence is read with particular atten- 
tion to the intonations of the voice. Thus, one thing is taken at a 
time, and pupils must become thorough in each as it occurs, before 
they proceed to the next. One great benefit of the class reading to- 
gether is, that each individual has the same amount of exercise as if 
he were the only one under instruction, his attention can never falter, 
and no part of the lesson escapes him. A skilful teacher once ac- 
customed to this mode of reading, can as easily detect any fault, 
mispronunciation, or a negligence, in any individual, as if that indi- 
vidual were reading alone. 

The process is sometimes shortened, and the sentence read only 
three times, namely — "according to the words, according to the 
punctuation, according to the life." 

2. Exercises in Writing. 

The pupils proceed to write copies in joining hand, both large 
and small, the principles of teaching being essentially as described 
in the first part of the course. The great object here is, to obtain 
a neat, swift, blisiness hand. Sometimes without a copy they write 
from the dictation of the teacher ; and in most cases instruction in 
orthography and punctuation is combined with that in penmanship. 
They are also taught to make and mend their own pens, and in 
doing this to be economical of their quills. 



38 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

3. Religious and moral instruction in select Bible narratives. 

In this branch of teaching the methods are various, and the t(!acher 
adopts the method best adapted in his judgment, to the particular 
circumstances of his own school, or to the special objects which he 
may have in view with a particular class. Sometimes he calls the 
class around him and relates to them, in his own language, some of 
the simple narratives of the Bible or reads it to them in the words 
of the Bible itself, or directs one of the children to read it aloud ; 
and then follows a friendly, familiar conversation between him and 
the class ; respecting the narrative, their little doubts are proposed 
and resolved, their questions put and answered, and the teacher 
unfolds the moral and religious instruction to be derived from the 
lesson, and illustrates it by appropriate quotations from the didactic 
and preceptive parts of the scripture. Sometimes he explains to 
the class a particular virtue or vice — a truth or a duty ; and after 
having clearly sliown what it is, he takes some Bible narrative which 
strongly illustrates the point in discussion, reads it to them, and 
directs their attention to it with special reference to the preceding 
narrative. 

A specimen or two of these different methods will best show 
what they are : 

(a) Read the narrative of the birth of Christ as given by Luke 
2 : 1-20. Observe, Christ was born for the salvation of men, so 
also for the salvation of children. Christ is the children's friend. 
Heaven rejoices in the good of men. Jesus, though so great and 
glorious, makes his appearance in a most humble condition. He is 
the teacher of the poor, as well as of the rich. 

With these remarks compare other texts of the Bible : 

" Jno. 3 : 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that who- 
soever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." 

" I. Jno. 4 : 9. In this was manifested the love of God towards us ; because God sent his 
only begotten son into the world that we might live through him." 

" Mark 10 : 14, 15. But when Jesus saw it he was much displeased, a;id said unto them, 
suffer little children to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of God : Verily I say unto 
you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter 
therein." 

And the lesson is concluded with singing a Christmas Hymn. 



1838. HOUSE— No. 64. 39 

Jesus feeds five thousand men : Jno. 6 : 1-14. 

God can bless a little so that it will do great good. 

Economy suffers nothing to be lost — other texts Ps. 145 : 15, 16. 

" The eyes of all wait upon thee, and thou givest them their meat in due season." 

'■ Thou openest thy hand and satisfiest the desire of every living thing-." Matt. 6 ; 31 33. 

Story of Cain and Abel. Gen. 4 : 1-16. 

Remarks. — Two men may do the same thing externally, and yet 
the merit of their acts be very different. God looks at the heart. 
Be careful not to cherish envy or ill will in the heart. You know 
not to what crimes they may lead you. Remorse and misery of the 
fratricide — other texts. Matt. 15: 19. Heb. 11: 4. I. Jno. 
3 : 12. Job, 34 : 32. 

" 19. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, 
false witness, 'oiasphemies." 

" 4. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he 
obtained witness, that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts ; and by it he, being 
dead, yet speaketh." 

" 12. Not as Cain wJw was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore 
slew he him ? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." 

Story of Jesus in the Temple. Luke 2: 41-52. 

Jesus in his childhood was very fond of learning — (he heard and 
asked questions ;) God's Word was his delight, he understood what 
he heard and read — (men were astonished at his understanding and 
answers.) He carefully obeyed his parents — (he went with them 
and was subject to them.) And as he grew up his good conduct 
endeared him to God and man — other texts. Eph. 6: 1-4. Prov. 
3: 1-4. 

" 1. Children obey your parents, in the Lord : for this is right. 

"2. Honor thy father and thy mother, (which is the first commandment with promise :) 
" 3. That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. 
"4. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath • but bring them up in the nur- 
ture and admonition of the Lord." 

" 1. My son, forget not my law ; but let thine heart keep my commandments : 
" 2. For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. 
" 3. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee : bind them about thy neck ; write them upon 
the table of thine heart : 
" 4. So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man. 



40 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

On the other mode of teaching, the teacher for example, states 
the general truth, that God protects and rewards the good, and pun- 
ishes the bad. In illustration of this he reads to them the narrative 
of Daniel in the lion's den, and the death which overtook his wicked 
accusers. Dan. 6. In illustration of the same truth, the escape of 
Peter and the miserable death of his persecutor, Herod, may be 
read. Acts 12. 

The teacher may impress upon the mind of his class, that dili- 
gence, scrupulous fidelity and conscientious self-control, are the sur- 
est guarantees of success in life. And in illustration of the state- 
ment, read the narrative of Joseph's conduct in his master's house in 
Egypt, and in the prison, and in the results of it. Gen. 39. So. 
also, various incidents in the life of Jesus may be used to great ad- 
vantage in illustrating different virtues. 

It is recommended, that the teacher employ, in his instructions, the 
translation of the scripture in general use among the people ; but that 
he occasionally take the original scriptures and read to the children, 
in his own translation, and sometimes use simple translations from 
different authors, that the children may early learn to notice the di- 
versities in different faithful translations, and see what they really 
amount to. 

It is scarcely necessary to observe, that a teacher who under- 
stands his business, and is faithful to his trust, will scrupulously ab- 
stain from sectarian peculiarities, or from casting odium on the tenets 
of any of the christian denominations. A man who has not magna- 
namity or enlargement of mind enough for this, is not fit to be em- 
ployed as a teacher, even in the humblest branches of knowledge. 

4. Language, or Grammar. 

The knowledge of the native tongue ; the ability to use it with 
correctness, facility, and power, is justly regarded as one of the most 
important branches of common school instruction. It is the princi- 
pal object of the logical exercises, or as they may be justly termed, 
the exercises in thinking and speaking, already described as the first 
subject of study in the first part of the course, before the child has 
begun to use his book at all. 

In this second part of the course, grammar is taught directly and 
scientifically, yet by no means in a dry and technical manner. — On 



1838. HOUSE— No. 64. 41 

the contrary, technical terms are carefully avoided, till the child has 
become familiar with the nature and use of the things designated by 
them, and he is able to use them as the names of ideas which have a 
definite existence in his mind, and not as awful sounds dimly shadow- 
ing forth some mysteries of science into which he has no power to 
penetrate. 

The first object is to illustrate the different parts of speech, such 
as the noun, the verb, the adjective, the adverb ; and this is done by 
engaging the pupil in conversation and leading him to form sentences 
in which the particular part of speech to be learned shall be the most 
important word, and directing his attention to the nature and use of 
the word in the place where he uses it. For example, let us sup- 
pose the nature and use of the adverb is to be taught: — The teacher 
writes upon the black-boad the words "here, there, near," &c. He 
then says, "children we are all together in this room — by which of 
the words on the black-board can you express this ? Children — 
"We are all /lere." Teacher — "Now look out of the window and 
see the church ; what can you say of the church with the second 
word on the black-board?" Children — "The church is f/iere." 
Teacher — "The distance between us and the church is not great ; 
how will you express this by a word on the black-board ?" Children 
— "The church is wear." The fact that these different words ex- 
press the same sort of relations is then explained, and accordingly 
that they belong to the same class, or are the same part of speech. 
The variations of these words is next explained. "Children, you 
say the church is near, but there is a shop between us and the church ; 
what will you say of the shop ? Children — "The shop is nearer.'" 
Teacher — "But there is a fence between us and the shop. Now 
when you think of the distance between us, the shop and the fence, 
what will you say of the fence ? Children — " The fence is nearest.''^ 
So of other verbs. " The lark sings well. Compare the singing of 
the lark with that of the canary bird. Compare the singing of the 
nightingale with that of the canary bird." After all the different sorts 
of adverbs and their variations have in this way been illustrated, and 
the pupils understand that all words of this kind are called adverbs, 
the definition of the adverb is given as it stands in the grammar, and 
the book is put into their hands to study the chapter on this topic. 
6 



42 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

In this way the pupil understands what he is doing at every step of 
his progress, and his memory is never burdened with mere names to 
which he can attach no definite meaning. 

The mode of teaching the subsequent branches is founded on the 
same general principles, and it may not be necessary to give particu- 
lar examples. 

5. Numbers, or Arithmetic. 

6. Doctrine of space and form, or Geometry. 

7. Singing by note, or elements of Music. 

The method of teaching music has already been successfully in- 
troduced into our own state, and whoever visits the schools of 
Messrs. Mason or Solomon, in Cincinnati, will have a much better 
idea of what it is than any description can give ; nor will any one who 
visits these schools entertain a doubt, that all children, from six to ten 
years of age, who are capable of learning to read, are capable of 
learning to sing, and that this branch of instruction can be introduced 
into all our common schools with the greatest advantage, not only to 
the comfort and discipline of the pupils, but also to their progress in 
their other studies. 

The students are taught from the black-board. The different 
sounds are represented by lines of different lengths, by letters, by 
figures, and by musical notes ; and the pupils are thoroughly drilled 
on each successive principle before proceeding to the next. 

III. Third part of tioo years — Children from ten to twelve. 

1. Exercises in Reading and Elocution. 

The object of these exercises in this part of the course is to ac- 
custom the pupils to read in a natural and impressive manner, so as to 
to bring the full force of the sentiment on those to whom they read. 
They are examined in modulation, emphasis, and the various intona- 
tions, and they often read sentences from the black-board in which 
the various modulations are expressed by musical notes or curved 
lines. 

The evils of drawling and monotone are prevented in the outset 
by the method of teaching, particularly the practice of the whole class 
reading together and keeping time. Short and pithy sentences, par- 



1838. HOUSE— No. 64. 43 

ticularly the book of Proverbs, are recCintnended as admirably adapt- 
ed to exercises of this kind. 

2. Ornamental Writing introductory to Drawing. 

The various kinds of ornamental letters are here practised upon, 
giving accuracy to the eye and steadiness to the hand, preparatory to 
skill in drawing, which comes into the next part of the course. The 
pupils also practise writing sentences and letters, with neatness, ra- 
pidity and correctness. 

3. Religious instruction in the connected Bible history. 

The design here is to give to the student a full and connected 
view of the whole Bible history. For this purpose large tables are 
made out and hung before the students. These tables are generally 
arranged in four columns ; the first, containing the names of the dis- 
tinguished men during a particular period of Bible history; the second, 
the dates ; the third, a chronological register of events ; and the 
fourth, the particular passages of the Bible where the history of these 
persons and events may be found. With these tables before the pu- 
pils, the teacher himself, in his own words, gives a brief conversa- 
tional outline of the principal characters and events within a certain 
period, and then gives directions that the scriptural passages referred 
to, be carefully read. After this is done the usual recitation and 
examination takes place. Some of the more striking narratives, such 
as the finding of Moses on the banks of the Nile ; Abraham offering 
his son ; the journey of the wise men to do homage to Christ ; the 
crucifixion ; the conversion of Paul, &,c., are committed to memory 
in the words of the Bible, and the recitation accompanied with the 
singing of a hymn alluding to these events. The moral instruction 
to be derived from each historical event is carefully impressed by the 
teacher. The teacher also gives them a brief view of the history be- 
tween the termination of the Old and the commencement of the New 
Testament, that nothing may be wanting to a com})lete and systema- 
tic view of the whole ground. Thus the whole of the historical part 
of the Bible is studied thoroughly, and systematically, and practical- 
ly, without the least sectarian bias, and without a moment being spent 
on a single idea that will not be of the highest use to the scholar dur- 
ing all his future life. 

4. Language and Grammar. 



44 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

There is here a continuation of the exercises in the preceding parts 
of the course, in a more scientific form, together with parsing of con- 
nected sentences, and writing from the dictation of the teacher, with 
reference to grammar, orthography and punctuation. The same 
principle alluded to before, of avoiding technical terms till the things 
represented by those terms are clearly j)erceived, is here carefully 
adhered to. A single specimen of the manner in which the modes 
and tenses of the verb are taught, may be sufficient to illustrate my 
meaning. The teacher writes on the black-board a simple sentence, 
as, " The scholars learn well ;" and asks the class what sort of a 
sentence it is. They reply that it is a direct statement of a fact. 
(Teacher.) Put it in the form of a command. (Class.) Scholars, 
learn well. (Teacher.) Put it in a question form. (Class.) Do the 
scholars learn well ? (Teacher.) Of a wish. (Class.) May the 
scholars learn well ! (Teacher.) Of an exclamation. (Class.) How 
well the scholars learn ! (Teacher.) The conditional form. (Class.) 
If the scholars learn well ; or should the scholars learn well. (Teach- 
er.) Of necessity. (Class.) The scholars must learn well. (Teach- 
er.) Of ability. (Class.) The scholars can learn well, &c., &c. 
They are then taught, that the direct statement is called the indicative 
mode of the verb ; the command, the imperative mode ; the condi- 
tional, the subjunctive mode ; the wish, the potential mode, &c., &c. 
— and after this the book is put in their hands and they study the 
lesson as it stands. After this the different tenses of the several 
modes are taught in the same way. 

5. Real instruction, or knowledge of nature and the external 
world, including the first elements of the natural sciences, the arts of 
life, geography, and history. Instruction on this head is directed to 
the answering of the following questions, namely : 

(a) What is man, as it respects his corporeal and intellectual na- 
ture .'' 

Here come anatomy and physiology, so far as the structure of 
the human body is concerned, and the functions of its several parts. 

Also the simple elements of mental philosophy. In this connec- 
tion appropriate texts of scripture are quoted, as Gen. 2: 7. Ps. 
139: 13-16. An appropriate hymn is also sung. 



1838. HOUSE— No. 64. 45 

" 7. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of ihe ground, and breathed into his 
nostrils the breath of life : and man became a living soul." 

" 14.. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully arid wonderfully made : marvellous are thy 
works ; and that my soul knoweth right well. 

'•15. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret and curiously 
wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 

"16. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect ; and in thy book all my 
members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet (here ivas none of 
them." 

(6) What does man need for the preservation and cheerful enjoy- 
ment of life, as it respects his body and mind .'' For his body he 
needs food ; the different kinds of food and the mode of preparing 
them, are here bronght to view ; the unvvholesomeness of some 
kinds of food ; injuriousness of improper food ; cooking ; evils of 
gluttony. The different kinds of clothing and modes of preparing 
them ; what sort of dress is necessary to health ; folly and wicked- 
ness of vanity and extravagance. Dwellings ; materials of which 
houses are constructed ; mode of constructing them ; different trades 
employed in their construction. 

For the mind, man needs society ; the family and its duties ; the 
neighborhood and its duties. Intellectual, moral, and religious culti- 
vation ; the school and its duties ; the church and duties. For the 
body and mind both, he needs security of person and property ; the 
government ; the legislature ; the courts, &c. 

(c) Where and how do men find the means to supply their wants, 
and make themselves comfortable and happy in this life .'' 

The vegetable, the mineral, and the animal kingdoms are here 
brought to view, for materials ; together with agriculture and manu- 
factures as the means of converting these materials to our use. Ge- 
ography, with special reference to the productions of countries, and 
their civil, literary and religious institutions ; towns, their organiza- 
tion and employments. Geography is sometimes taught by blank 
charts, to which the students are required to affix the names of the 
several countries, rivers, mountains, principal towns, &c., and then 
state the productions and institutions for which they are remarkable. 
Sometimes the names of countries, rivers, &c. are given, and the 
pupil is required to construct an outline chart of their localities. 



46 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

In respect to all the above points, the native country is particular- 
ly studied, its capabilities, its productions, its laws, its institutions, 
its history, &c., are investigated, with especial reference to its abili- 
ty of supplying the physical, social and moral wants of its inhabi- 
tants. Under this head the pupils are taught to appreciate their 
native country, to venerate and love its institutions, to understand 
what is necessary to their perfection, and to imbibe a spirit of pure 
and generous patriotism. It is scarcely necessary to add, that all 
the instruction under this 5th head, is confined to the fundamental 
and simplest principles of the several branches referred to. 

6. Arithmetic continued through fractions and the rules of pro- 
portion. 

7. Geometry, doctrines of magnitudes and measures. 

8. Singing and science of vocal and instrumental music. 

IV. Fourth part of two years — Children from twelve to fourteen. 

1. Religious instruction, in the religious observation of nature, 
the life and discourses of Jesus Christ, the history of the christian 
religion, in connection with the cotemporary civil history, and the 
principal doctrines of the christian system. 

The first topic of instruction mentioned under this head is one of 
peculiar interest and utility. The pupils are taught to observe with 
care and system, the various powers and operations of nature, and 
to consider them as so many illustrations of the wisdom, power, and 
goodness of the Creator, and at each lesson they are directed to 
some appropriate passage of the Bible, which they read and commit 
to memory ; and thus the idea is continually impressed on them, 
that the God of nature, and the God of the Bible, are one and the 
the same Being. 

For example, as introductory to the whole study, tlie first chapter 
of Genesis, together with some other appropriate passage of scrip- 
ture, as the 147th Psalm, or the 38th chapter of Job, may be read 
and committed to memory. The surface of the earth, as illustrating 
the power and wisdom of God, may be taken as a lesson. Then 
the varieties of surface, as mountains, valleys, oceans, and rivers, 
continents, and islands, the height of mountains, the breadth of 



1838. HOUSE— No. 64. 47 

oceans, the length of rivers, remarkable cataracts, extended cav- 
erns, volcanoes, tides, &c., may be taken into view, and tlie teacher 
may impress upon the class the greatness, power, and intelligence 
necessary for such a creation. The whole is fortified by the ap- 
plication of such a passage as Psalm 104 : 1-13. 

" 1. Bless ihe Lord,0 my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great ; thou art clothed 
with honor and majesty. 

" 2. Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment ; who strelchest out the heavens 
like a curtain; 

" 3. Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters : who maketh the clouds his 
chariot : who walketh upon the wings of the wind : 

"4. Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire : 

" 5. Who laid the foundation of the earth, that it should not be removed forever. 

" 6. Thou coveredst it with the deep as tvith a garment : the waters stood above the 
mountains. 

"7. At thy rebuke they fled : at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away. 

"8. They go up by the mountains ; they go down by the valleys unto the place which 
thou hast founded for them. 

" 9. Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to 
cover the earth. 

" 10. He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills. 

" 11. They give drink to every beast of the field ; the wild asses quench their thirst. 

" 12. By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the 
branches. 

" 13. He watereth the hills from his chambers; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy 
works." 

"24. O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the 
earth is full of \)ay riches. 

" 2.5. So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small 
and great beasts. 

'•' 26. There go the ships ; tltere is that leviathan, ivhom thou hast made to play therein. 

The fruitfulness and beauty of the earth, as illustrating the wisdom 
and goodness of God, may serve as another lesson. Here may be 
exhibited the beauty and variety of the plants and flowers with which 
the earth is adorned — the manner of their growth and self-propaga- 
tion, their utility to man and beast, their immense number and va- 
riety, their relations to each other as genera and species ; trees and 
their varieties, their beauty and utility, their timber and their fruit ; 
and, in connection with this lesson, Psalm 104 : 14-34, may be 
committed to memory : 

" 14. He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man : that 
he may bring forth fruit out of the earth ; 



48 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

" 15. And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, arid oil to make his face to shine, and 
bread which slrengtheneth man's heart, 

"16. The trees of the Lord are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon which he hath 
planted ; 

" 17. Where the birds make their nests ; as /or the stork, the fir-trees are her house. 

" 18. The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats, and the rocks for the conies. 

" 19. He appointeth the moon for seasons : the sun knoweth his gowing down. 

" 20. Thou makest darkness, and it is night : wherein all the beasts of the forests do 
creep forth. 

'•■ 21. The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God. 

" 22. The sun ariseth, (hey gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens. 

" 23. Man goeth forth to his work and to his labor until the evening." 

" 27. These wait all upon thee ; that thou mayst give them their meat in due season. 

"28. Tliat thou givest them they gather ; thou openest thine hand, they are filled with 
good. 

" 29. Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled ; thou takest away their breath, they die, 
and return to their dust. 

" 30. Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created ; and thou renewest the face of the 
earth. 

" 31. The glory of the Lord shall endure forever; the Lord shall rejoice in his works. 

" 32. He lookelh on the earth, and it tremblelh : he tnuchelh the hills and they smoke. 

" 33. I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live : I will sing praise unto my God while I 
have my being. 

" 34. My meditation of him shall be sweet : I will be glad in the Lord." 

In like manner, the creation and nourishment, the habits and in- 
stincts of various animals may be contemplated in connection with 
Proverbs 6 : 6-8; Psalm 104: 17-22; Proverbs 30: 24-31. 
Gen. 1 : 20-24 ; Psalms 145 : 15-16. 

" 6. Go to the ant, thou sluggard ; consider her ways, and be wise : 

" 7. Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, 

"■ 8. Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest." 

" 24. There be four things ivliich are little on the earth but they are exceeding wise. 

" 25. The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer. 

" 26. The conies are but a feeble folk, yet Ihey make their houses in the rocks. 

" 27. The locusts have no king, yet they go forth all of them by bands ; 

" 28. The spider takelh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces. 

"29. There be three things which go well, yea, four are comely in going. 

" 30. A lion, which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for an}' ; 

" 31. A greyhound ; an he-goat also ; and a king against whom there is no rising up." 

" 24. And God said. Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, 
and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind : and it was so. 

" 25. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, 
and every thing that creepelh upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good." 

" 15. The eyes of all wait upon thee ; and thou givest them their meat in due season. 

" 16. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing. 

" 17. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works." 



183S. HOUSE— No. 64. 49 

The phenomena of light and color, the nature of the rainbow, &c., 
may make another interesting lesson, illustrating the unknown forms 
of beauty and glory which exist in the Divine Mind, and which He 
may yet develope in other and still more glorious worlds ; in con- 
nection with Gen. 1, 3, 5, 9, 13, 14, and other passages of like 
kind. 

So the properties of the air, wind, and storm. Job 28, 25-28, 
33, 34, 35. Ps. 148, 3. 

" 33. Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven ? canst thou set the dominion thereof in 
the earth ? 

" 34. Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover 
thee? 

" 35. Canst Ihou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are! 

" 36. Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts 1 or who hath given understanding to 
the heart ? 

" 37. Who can number the clouds in wisdom ? or who can stay the bottles of heaven." 

Then the heavens, the sun, moon, planets, fixed stars and comets, 
the whole science of astronomy, so far as it can be introduced with 
advantage into common schools, can be contemplated in the same 
way. The enlightening, elevating, and purifying moral influence of 
such a scheme of instruction, carried through the whole system of 
nature, must be clearly obvious to every thinking mind, and its utili- 
ty, considered merely with reference to worldly good, is no less 
manifest. 

The second topic of religious instruction is more exclusively scrip- 
tural. The life of Christ, and the history of the apostles, as given in 
the New Testament, are chronologically arranged, and tables formed 
as before, (III. 3.) The discourses of Christ are examined and ex- 
plained in their chronological arrangement, and in the same way the 
discourses and epistles of the apostles. The history of Christianity, 
in connection with the cotemporary civil history, is taught in a series 
of conversational lectures. To conclude the whole course of reli- 
gious instruction, a summary of the christian doctrine is given in the 
form of some approved catechism. 

2. Knowledge of the world and of mankind, including civil socie- 
ty, constitutional law, agriculture, mechanic arts, manufactures, &c. 

This is a continuation and completion in a more systematic form 
of the instruction commenced in 117, 5. The course begins with 
7 



60 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

the family, and the first object is to construct a habitation. The pu- 
pil tells what materials are necessary for this purpose, where they 
are to be found, how brought together and fitted into the several 
parts of the building. The house must now be furnished. The dif- 
ferent articles of furniture and their uses are named in systematic or- 
der, the materials of which they are made, and the various trades 
employed in making them are enumerated. Then comes the gar- 
den, its tools and products, and whatever else is necessary for the 
subsistence and physical comfort of a family. Then the family du- 
ties and virtues, parental and filial obligation and aiFection ; rights of 
property, duties of neighborhoods ; the civil relations of society ; the 
religious relations of society ; the state, the father-land, &c. ; finally 
geography, history, and travels. Books of travels are compiled ex- 
pressly for the use of schools, and are found to be of the highest in- 
terest and utility. 

3. Language and exercises in composition. 

The object here is to give the pupils a perfect command of their 
native tongue and ability to use it on all occasions with readiness and 
power. The first exercises are on simple questions, such as — 
" Why ought children to love and obey their parents ?'' — or they 
are short descriptions of visible objects, such as a house, a room, a 
garden, &:c. There are also exercises on the various forms of ex- 
pressing the same idea, as " The sun enlightens the earth." " The 
earth is enlightened by the sun." "The sun gives light to the 
earth." " The earth receives light from the sun." " The sun is 
the source of light to the earth." " The sun sends out its rays to 
enlighten the earth." " The earth is enlightened by rays sent out 
from the sun," &c. There are exercises also of the same sort, or 
metaphors and other figures of speech — familiar letters are then writ- 
ten and short essays on themes such as may be furnished by texts 
from the book of Proverbs and other sentences of the kind ; and 
thus gradual advancement is made to all the higher and graver modes 
of composition. 

4. Application of arithmetic and mathematics to the business of 
life, including surveying, civil engineering, &:c. 

The utility of this branch of instruction and the mode of it, after 



1838. HOUSE— No. 64. 61 

what has already been said, are probably too obvious to need any 
further illustration. 

5. Elements of Drawing. 

For this the pupils have already been prepared by the exercises 
in ornamental writing in the previous part of the course. They have 
already acquired that accuracy of sight and steadiness of hand which 
are among the most essential requisites to drawing well. The first 
exercises are in drawing lines, and the most simple mathematical 
figures, such as the square, the cube, the triangle, the parallelogram: 
generally from wooden models placed at some little distance on a 
shelf, before the class. From this they proceed to architectural fig- 
ures, such as doors, windows, columns, and facades. Then the fig- 
ures of animals, such as a horse, a cow, an elephant — first from oth- 
er pictures, and then from nature. A plant, a rose, or some flower 
is placed upon a shelf and the class make a picture of it. From this 
they proceed to landscape painting, historical painting, and the high- 
er branches of the art, according to their time and capacity. All 
learn enough of drawing to use it in the common business of life, 
such as plotting a field, laying out a canal, or drawing the plan of a 
building ; and many attain to a high degree of excellence. 

6. Exercises in singing and the science of music. 

The instructions of the previous parts are extended as far as pos- 
sible, and include singing and playing at sight, and the more abstruse 
and difficult branches of the science and art of music. 

CHARACTER OF THE SYSTEM. 

The striking features of this system, even in the hasty aud imper- 
fect sketch which my limits allow me to give, are obvious even 
to superficial observation. No one can fail to observe its great 
completeness, both as to the number and kind of subjects embraced 
in it, and as to its adaptedness to develope every power of every 
kind, and give it a useful direction. What topic in all that is neces- 
sary for a sound business education is here omitted ? I can think of 
nothing, unless it be one or two of the modern languages, and these 
are introduced wherever it is necessary, as has already been seen in 
the study sheet of Dr. Diesterweg's seminary, inserted on a preced- 



62 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

ing page of this report. VI have not taken the course precisely as 
it exists in any one school, but have combined from an investigation 
of many institutions, the features which I supposed would most fairly 
rej)resent the whole system. In the Rhinish provinces of Prussia, 
in a considerable part of Bavaria, Baden, and Wirtemberg, French 
is taught as well as German ; in the schools of Prussian Poland, 
German and Polish are taught ; and even English, in the Russian 
schools of Cronstadt and Archangel, where so many English and 
American merchants resort for the purposes of trade. Two lan- 
guages can be taught in a school quite as easily as one, provided the 
teacher be perfectly familiar, as any one may see by visiting Mr. 
Solomon's school in Cincinnati, where all the instruction is given 
both in German and English. 

What faculty of mind is there that is not developed in the scheme 
of instruction sketched above ? I know of none. The perceptive 
and reflective faculties, the memory and the judgment, the imagina- 
tion and the taste, the moral and religious faculty, and even the vari- 
ous kinds of physical and manual dexterity, all have opportunity for 
development and exercise. Indeed, I think the system in its great 
outlines, as nearly complete as human ingenuity and skill can make 
it ; though undoubtedly some of its arrangements and details ad- 
mit of improvement ; and some changes will of course be necessary 
in adapting it to the circumstances of different countries. 

The entirely practical character of the system is obvious through- 
out. It views every subject on the practical side, and in reference 
to its adaptedness to use. The dry technical abstract parts of sci- 
ence are not those first presented ; but the system proceeds, in the 
only way which nature ever pointed out, from practice to theory, 
from parts to demonstrations. It has often been a complaint in res- 
pect to some systems of education, that the more a man studied, the 
less he knew of the actual business of life. Such a complaint can- 
not be made in reference to this system, for being intended to edu- 
cate for the actual business of life, this object is never for a moment 
lost sight of. 

Anodier striking feature of the system is its moral and religious 
character. Its morality is pure and elevated, its religion entirely 
removed from the narrowness of sectarian bigotry. What parent is 



1838. HOUSE— No. 64. 53 

there, loving his children and wishing to have ihem respected and 
happy, who would not desire that they should be educated under 
such a kind of moral and religious influence as has been described ? 
Whether a believer in revelation or not, does he not know that with- 
out sound morals there can be no happiness, and that there is no 
morality like the morality of the New Testament ? Does he not 
know that without religion, the human heart can never be at rest, and 
that there is no religion like the religion of the Bible ? Every well 
informed man knows, that, as a general fact, it is impossible to im- 
press the obligations of morality with any efficiency on the heart of 
a child, or even on that of an adult, without an appeal to some mode 
which is sustained by the authority of God ; and for what code 
will it be possible to claim this authority if not for the code of the 
Bible > 

But perhaps some will be ready to say, the scheme is indeed an 
excellent one, provided only it were practicable ; but the idea of in- 
troducing so extensive and complete a course of study into our com- 
mon schools is entirely visionary and can never be realized. I an- 
swer, that it is no theory which I have been exhibiting, but a matter 
of fact, a copy of actual practice. The above system is no vision- 
ary scheme emanating from the closet of a recluse, but a sketch of 
the course of instruction now actually pursued by thousands of school- 
masters in the best district schools that have ever been organized. 
It can be done, for it has been done, it is now done, and it ought to 
be done. If it can be done in Europe, I believe it can be done in 
the United States : if it can be done in Prussia, I know it can be 
done in Ohio. The people have but to say the word and provide 
the means, and the thing is accomplished ; for the word of the peo- 
ple here is even more powerful than the word of the King there ; 
and the means of the people here are altoged)er more abundant for 
such an object than the means of the sovereign there. Shall this 
object, then, so desirable in itself, so entirely practicable, so easily 
within our reach, fail of accomplishment ? For the honor and wel- 
fare of our State, for the safety of our whole nation, I trust it will 
not fail ; but that we shall soon witness in this commonwealth the 
introduction of a system of common school instruction, fully adequate 
to all the wants of our population. 



54 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

But the question occurs, how can this be done ? I will give a 
few brief hints as to some things which I suppose to be essential 
to the attainment of so desirable an end. 



MEANS OF SUSTAINING THE SYSTEM. 

1. Teachers must be skilful, and trained to their business. It 
will at once be perceived, that the plan above sketched out proceeds 
on the supposition that the teacher has fully and distinctly in his mind 
the whole course of instruction, not only as it respects the matter to 
be taught, but also as to all the best modes of teaching, that he 
may be able readily and decidedly to vary his method according to 
the peculiarities of each individual mind which may come under his 
care. This is the only true secret of successful teaching. The old 
mechanical method, in which the teacher relies entirely on his text- 
book, and drags every mind along through the same dull routine of 
creeping recitation, is utterly insufficient to meet the wants of our 
people. It may do in Asiatic Turkey, where the whole object of 
the school is to learn to pronounce the words of the Koran, in one 
dull monotonous series of sounds ; or it may do in China, where 
men must never speak or think out of the old beaten track of Chi- 
nese imbecility ; but it will never do in the United States, where the 
object of education ought to be to make immediately available, for 
the highest and best purposes, every particle of real talent that exists 
in the nation. To effect such a purpose, the teacher must possess 
a strong and independent mind, well disciplined, and well stored 
with every thing pertaining to his profession, and ready to adapt his 
instructions to every degree of intellectual capacity, and every kind 
of acquired habit. But how can we expect to find such teachers, 
unless they are trained to their business ? A very few of extraordi- 
nary powers may occur, as we sometimes find able mechanics, and 
great mathematicians, who had no early training in their favorite pur- 
suits ; but these few exceptions to a general rule will never multiply 
fast enough to supply our schools with able teachers. The manage- 
ment of the human mind, particularly youthful mind, is the most 
delicate task ever committed to the hand of man ; and shall it be left 



1838. HOUSE— N. G4. 55 

to mere instinct, or shall our schoolmasters have at least as careful a 
training as our lawyers and physicians ? 

2. Teachers, then, must have the means of acquiring the neces- 
sary qualifications ; in other words, there must be institutions in 
which the business of teaching is majde a systematic object of atten- 
tion. I am not an advocate for multiplying our institutions. We 
already have more in number than we support, and it would be wise 
to give power and efficiency to those we now possess, before we 
project new ones. But the science and art of teaching ought to be 
a regular branch of study in some of our academies and high schools, 
that those who are looking forward to this profession may have an 
opportunity of studying its principles. In addition to this, in our 
populous towns where there is an opportunity for it, there should be 
large model schools, under the care of the most able and experienced 
teachers that can be obtained ; and the candidates for the profession 
who have already completed the theoretic course of the academy, 
should be employed in this school as monitors or assistants, thus 
testing all their theories by practice, and acquiring skill and dexterity 
under the guidance of their head master. Thus, while learning, they 
would be teaching, and no time or effort would be lost. To give 
efficiency to the whole system, to present a general standard and a 
prominent point of union, there should be at least one model-teachers' 
seminary, at some central point, — as at Columbus, — which shall be 
amply provided with all the means of study and instruction, and have 
connected with it schools of every grade, for the practice of the stu- 
dents, under the immediate superintendence of their teachers. 

3. The teachers must be competently supported, and devoted to 
their business. Few men attain any great degree of excellence in a 
profession, unless they love it, and place all their hopes in life upon 
it. A man cannot, consistently with his duty to himself, engage in a 
business which does not afford him a competent support, unless he 
has other means of living, which is not the case with many who en- 
gage in teaching. In this country especially, where there are such 
vast fields of profitable employment open to every enterprising man, 
it is not possible, that the best of teachers can be obtained, to any 
considerable extent, for our district schools, at the present rate of 
wages. We have already seen what encouragement is held out to 



56 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

teachers in Russia, Prussia, and other European nations, and what 
pledges are given of competent support to their families, not only 
while engaged in the work, but when, having been worn out in the 
public service, they are no longer able to labor. In those countries, 
where every profession and walk of life is crowded, and where one 
of the most common and oppressive evils is want of employment, 
men of high talents and qualifications are often glad to become teach- 
ers even of district schools ; men who in this country would aspire 
to the highest places in our colleges, or even our halls of legislation 
and courts of justice. How much more necessary, then, here, that 
the profession of teaching should afford a competent support ! 

Indeed, such is the state of things in this country, that we can- 
not expect to find male teachers for all our schools. The busi- 
ness of educating, especially young children, must fall, to a great 
extent, on female teachers. There is not the same variety of 
tempting employment for females as for men, they can be sup- 
ported cheaper, and the Creator has given them peculiar quali- 
fications for the education of the young. Females, then, ought to 
be employed extensively in all our elementary schools, and they 
should be encouraged and aided in obtaining the qualifications ne- 
cessary for this work. There is no country in the world where 
woman holds so high a rank, or exerts so great an influence, as here ; 
wherefore, her responsibilities are the greater, and she is under ob- 
ligations to render herself the more actively useful. I think our fair 
countrywomen, notwithstanding the exhortations of Harriet Marti- 
neau, Fanny Wright, and some other ladies and gentlemen, will 
never seek distinction in our public assemblies for public discussion, 
or in our halls of legislation ; but in their appropriate work of edu- 
cating the young, of forming the opening mind to all that is good and 
great, the more they distinguish themselves the better. 

4. The children must be made comfortable in their school ; they 
must be punctual, and attend the whole course. There can be no 
profitable study without personal comfort ; and the inconvenience 
and miserable arrangements of some of our school-houses are enough 
to annihilate all that can be done by the best of teachers. No in- 
structor can teach unless the pupils are present to be taught, and no 
plan of systematic instruction can be carried steadily through, un- 
less the pupils attend punctually and through the whole course. 



1838. HOUSE— No. 64. 67 

5. The children must be given up implicitly to the discipline of 
the school. Nothing can be done unless the teacher has the entire 
control of his pupils in school hours, and out o( school too, so far as 
the rules of the school are concerned. If the parent in any way 
interferes with, or overrules the arrangements of the teacher, he may 
attribute it to himself if the school is not successful. No teacher 
ever ought to be employed to whom the entire management of the 
children cannot be safely entrusted ; and better at any time dismiss 
the teacher than counteract his discipline. Let parents but take the 
pains and spend the money necessary to provide a comfortable 
school-house and a competent teacher for their children, and they 
never need apprehend that the discipline of the school will be un- 
reasonably severe. No inconsiderable part of the corporeal punish- 
ment that has been inflicted in schools, has been made necessary by 
the discomfort of school-houses and the unskilfulness of teachers. 
A lively, sensitive boy is stuck upon a bench full of knot-holes and 
sharp ridges, without a support for his feet or his back, with a 
scorching fire on one side of him and a freezing wind on the other ; 
and a stiff Orbilius of a master, with wooden brains and iron hands, 
orders him to sit perfectly still, with nothing to employ his mind or 
his body, till it is his turn to read. Thus confined for hours, what 
can the poor little fellow do but begin to wriggle like a fish out of 
water, or an eel in a frying-pan ? For this irrepressible effort at 
relief he receives a box on the ear ; this provokes and renders him 
still more uneasy, and next comes the merciless ferule ; and the 
poor child is finally burnt and frozen, cuffed and l)eaten into harden- 
ed roguery or incurable stupidity, just because the avarice of his 
parents denied hia» a comfortable school-house and a competent 
teacher. [On the subject of school discipline, I solicit attention 
particularly to the answers to question 3, in Appendix B, to this 
report.] 

6. A beginning must be made at certain points, and the advance 
towards completeness must be gradual. Every thing cannot be done 
at once, and such a system as is needed cannot be generally intro- 
duced till its benefits are first demonstrated by actual experiment. 
Certain great points, then, where the people are ready to co-operate, 
and to make the most liberal advances in proportion to their means, 

8 



58 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

to maintain the schools, should be selected, and no pains or expense 
spared, till the full benefits of the best system are realized ; and as 
the good effects are seen, other places will very readily follow the 
example. All experience has shown, that governmental patronage is 
most profitably employed, not to do the entire work but simply as 
an incitement to the people to help themselves. 

To follow up this great object, the legislature has wisely made 
choice of a Superintendent whose untiring labors and disinterested 
zeal are worthy of all praise. But no great plan can be carried 
through in a single year ; and if the Superintendent is to have op- 
portunity to do what is necessary, and to preserve that independence 
and energy of official character which is requisite to the successful 
discharge of his duties, he should hold his office for the same term 
and on the same conditions, as the Judges of the Supreme Court. 

Every officer engaged in this, or in every other public work, 
should receive a suitable compensation for his services. This jus- 
tice requires, and it is the only way to secure fidelity and efficiency. 

There is one class of our population for whom some special pro- 
vision seems necessary. The children of foreign immigrants are 
now very numerous among us, and it is essential that they receive a 
good English education. But they are not prepared to avail 
themselves of the advantages of our common English schools, their 
imperfect acquaintance with the language being an insuperable bar 
to their entering on the course of study. It is necessary, there- 
fore, that there be some preparatoiy schools, in which instruction 
shall be communicated both in English and their native tongue. 
The English is, and must be, the language of this country, and 
the highest interests of our State demand it of the Legislature to 
require that the English language be thoroughly taught in every school 
which they patronise. Still, the exigencies of the case make it ne- 
cessary that there should be some schools expressly fitted to the con- 
dition of our foreign immigrants, to introduce them to a knowledge 
of our language and institutions. A school of this kind has been es- 
tablished in Cincinnati by benevolent individuals. It has been in 
operation about a year, and already nearly three hundred children 
have received its advantages. Mr. Solomon, the head teacher, was 
educated for his profession in one of the best institutions of Prussia, 



1838. HOUSE— No. 64. 69 

and in this school he has demonstrated the excellencies of the sys- 
tem. The instructions are all given both in German and English, 
and this use of two languages does not at all interrupt the progress of 
the children in their respective studies. I cannot but recommend 
this philanthropic institution to the notice and patronage of the Legis- 
lature. 

In neighborhoods where there is a mixed population, it is desira- 
ble, if possible, to employ teachers who understand both languages, 
and that the exercises of the school be conducted in both, with the 
rule, however, that all the reviews and examinations be in English 
only. 

These suggestions I have made with unfeigned diffidence, and with 
a sincere desire that the work which has been so nobly begun by the 
Legislature of Ohio, may be carried forward to a glorious result. I 
should hardly have ventured to take such liberty had not my commission 
expressly authorized me to "make such practical observations as I 
might think proper," as well as to report facts. I know that I am 
addressing enlightened and patriotic men, who have discernment to 
perceive, and good feeling to appreciate, every sincere attempt, how- 
ever humble it may be, for the country's good ; and I have therefore 
spoken out plainly and directly the honest convictions of my heart ; 
feeling assured that what is honestly meant, will, by highminded men, 
be kindly received. 

All which is respectfully submitted. 

C. E. STOWE. 
Columbus, Dec. 18, 1837. 



Note. — I cannot close my report without acknowledging my spe- 
cial obligations to some gentlemen whose names do not occur in it. 
To Professor Dorner of the University of Tuebingen, I am particu- 
larly indebted for his unwearied kindness and assiduity in directing 
me to the best schools, and introducing me to the teachers. To Dr. 
Bowring of London, and Professor Pryme and Henslow of the Uni- 



60 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. Mar. '38. 

versity of Cambridge, I am under particular obligations. Dr. Drake 
of Cincinnati, and Hon. W. C. Rives, and Hon. Henry Clay of the 
United States Senate, also rendered me timely aid. Hundreds of 
teachers, and other gentlemen interested in education, whose sympa- 
thies I enjoyed, I shall always remember with pleasure and grati- 
tude. 



APPENDIX. 



(A) 
PRUSSIAN SCHOOL LAWS. 

In establishing a uniform school system in Prussia, great difficulty has 
been encountered from the local usages and privileges of different sections 
of which the inhabitants have been extremely tenacious. Great care has 
been taken to avoid all needless offence, and to prevent local jealousies. 
Old usages and privileges, so far as possible, have been respected, and 
prejudices have not been rashly attacked, but left to be gi-adually undermined 
by the growing advantages of the system. This course has certainly been 
a wise one, but one that has i-equired great patience and perseverance on 
the part of the government, and a great amount of special legislation. In 
examining the Prussian laws pertaining to the schools for elementary in- 
struction, and teacher's seminaries alone, exclusive of the high schools^ 
gymnasia, universities, &c. ; I find that there are no less than 239 different 
edicts now in force, of which 226 have been issued by Frederick William 
ni. The earliest date is July 30th, 1736, and the latest, July, 1834. 

The subjects and the number of the different edicts, ai'e as follows : 

I. General organization of the school system. Eleven edicts, from July, 
1736, to August, 1831. 

II. Duty of parents to send their children to the elementary schools. 
Nine edicts, from January, 1769, to January, 1831, namely : 

1. Seven on the general duties of parents, and 

2. Two having particular reference to the manufacturing districts. 

III. Instruction and education in the schools. Thirty-two edicts, from 
December, 1794, to September, 1832, namely : 

1. Seven on religious instruction. 

2. Seven on the general subjects of instruction, and their order. 

3. Four on instruction in agriculture and the arts. 

4. Two on vacations and dismissions from school. 

.5. Twelve on the regulation of scholars out of school hours. 

IV. Duty of districts to maintain schools and teachers. Nine edicts, 
from June, 1790, to December, 1830. 



62 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

V. The right of appointing teachers. Seven edicts, from September, 
1812, to January, 1831. 

VI Teachers of the schools. Sixty-five edicts, from November, 1738, 
to December, 1833, namely : 

1. Ten on the calling and examination of teachers. 

2. Eight on the personal rights and duties of teachers. 

3. Five on the salaries of teachers. 

4. Twelve on teachers engaging in other employments. 

5. Two on the dismissing and pensioning of teachers. 

6. Twelve on the deposing of teachers. 

7. Four on providing for the families of deceased teachers. 

Vn. Duties of magistrates in respect to the schools. Twelve edicts, 
from December, 1810, to Maixh, 1828. 

VIU. School property. Thirty-seven edicts, from January, 1801, to 
October, 1833, namely : 

1. Fourteen on school funds and their management. 

2. Twenty-one on school-houses. 

3. Two on settlement of amounts. 

IX. Regulations peculiar to schools in large cities. Four edicts, from 
June, 1811, to November, 1827. 

X. Institutions for special purposes. Thirty-four edicts, from Septem- 
ber, 1811, to January, 1834, namely : 

1. Four on schools for the deaf mutes. 

2. One on orphan houses. 

3. Four on ecclesiastical instruction. 

4. Nine on private schools. 

5. One on infant schools. 

6. Two on gu-l's schools. 

7. Thirteen on schools for the Jews. 

XI. Education of teachers. Twenty edicts, from September, 1818, to 
August, 1833, namely : 

1. Seven on instruction in and out of the seminary. 

2. Five on the personal rights and obligations of the students. 

3. Six on the military duty of the students. 

4. Two on associations of teachers. 

It is by a persevering, steady, determined series of efforts, carried through 
a long course of years, that the Prussian government has attained to a school 
system of such excellence and perfection. When Frederick William III. as- 
cended the throne in 1797, the Prussian system was no better tlian the 
Scotch system, or the New England system, if it were not indeed altogether 
inferior to these ; and it is only by forty years of hard work, forty years of 
intense labor directed to this very point, that this noble system has been 
completed, which is now attracting the admiration and provoking the emu- 



1838. HOUSE— No. 64. 63 

lous zeal of the whole civilized world. Nor do the Prussians yet consider 
their system as perfect, but are still laboring as zealously for improvement 
as they were thirty years ago. Let not the government of Ohio, then, be 
discouraged, because the very slight degree of attention which they have 
for a vei-y short time given to this subject, has not set them at once on the 
pinnacle of perfection. I hope the Legislature will continue, at least for a 
half century to come, to make this one of their chief objects of attention. 



(B) 
QUERIES ON EDUCATION. 

The following inquii-ies, with some others not here included, were made 
out by a committee of the Association of Teachers in Hamilton county. I 
obtained the answers diu-ing my tour in Europe, from Mr. Wood of the 
Sessional School in Edinburg, Scotland, Rev. Mr. Kunze of the Fi-ederick 
Orphan House, in Berlin, Prussia, and Professor Schwartz of the University 
of Heidelberg, in Raden. As I received the answers orally and in different 
languages, I cannot pretend to give them with verbal accuracy ; but I have 
endeavored in every instance to make a faithful representation of the senti- 
ment. 

1. What is the best method of inculcating moral and religious duty in 
schools ? 

Mr. Wood. Every morning I have recitations in the Bible, accompanied 
with such brief and pertinent i-emarks as naturally occur in connection with 
the recitation. 

Mr. Kunze. In Prussia the scholai-s are all taught Luther's Smaller Cate- 
chism ; they have a daily recitation in the Bible, beginning with the histori- 
cal portions ; the schools are always opened and closed with prayer, and the 
singing of some religious hymns. The Bible and Psalm-book are the first 
books which are put into the hands of the child, and they are his constant 
companions through the whole course of his education, and required to be 
such through life. 

Professor Schwartz. Every teacher should have a religious spirit, and by 
his personal influence, diffuse it among his pupils. The religious and moral 
instruction in the schools of Baden is similar to that in Prussia, as stated by 
Mr. Kunze. 

2. What is the best mode of using the Bible in schools ? 

Mr. W. Take the whole Bible just as it is in our translation ; for the 
younger children, select the easier historical portions, and go through with 
it as the scholars advance. 



64 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

Mr. K. In Prussia we have tried all sorts of ways, by extracts, by new 
translations, by commentaries, written expressly for schools ; but after all 
those trials, there is now but one opinion among all acquainted with the 
subject, and that is, that the whole Bible, just as it stands in the transla- 
tions in common use, should be a reading and recitation book in all the 
schools. In the Protestant schools, Luther's translation is used, and in the 
Catholic schools, the translation approved by that church. The children 
are required not merely to repeat the words of the translation by rote, but 
to give a good exhibition of the real sentiment in their own language. 

Prof. S. Answer similar to Mr. Ku nze's above. 

3. Method of governing schools — moral influence — rewards of merit — 
emulation — corporeal punishment ? 

Mr. W. I use all the purely moral influence I can ; but rewards for the 
meritorious are highly necessary ; and as to the principle of emulation, I ap- 
peal to it more and more the longer I teach. The evils of emulation, such 
as producing discouragement or exciting envy in the less successful schol- 
ars, I avoid by equalizing the classes as much as possible, so that all the 
scholars of each class, may, as to their capabilities of improvement, be nearly 
on a level. I know no successful school for young scholars where coporeal 
punishment is disused. The teacher must retain it as a last resort 

Mr. K. The Bible, prayers, and singing, are most essential helps to the 
consistent teacher in governing his scholars ; but premiums, emulation, and 
corporeal punishment, have hitherto been found indispensable auxiliaries. 
In our schools we have premiums of books, and in the orphan house there 
is a prize of fifty dollars annually awarded to each of the most meritorious 
scholars, which is allowed to accumulate in the savings bank till the pupil 
comes of age, when it is given to him to aid in establishing him in business. 
Each teacher keeps a journal, divided under different heads, of all the de- 
linquencies of his scholars, and if any one has six in a month, he must suf- 
fer corporeal punishment. The instrument of punishment is a cow-skin ; 
but no teacher is allowed to inflict more than four blows at any one time, 
or for any offence. This kind of punishment is not often needed. Of the 
380 boys in the oi-phan house not more than two in a month render them- 
selves liable to it. Afl;er the scholar enters the gymnasium, he is no longer 
liable to coi-poreal punishment ; but in all the schools below this, it is held 
in reserve as the last resort. 

Prof. S. I do not approve of rewards as a means of discipline. Emula- 
tion may be appealed to a little ; but much of it is not good, it is so liable to 
call forth bitter and unholy feeling. The skilful teacher, who gains the con- 
fidence and affection of his scholars, can govern without emulation or re- 
wards, and with very little of corporeal punishment. In a school in Heidel- 
berg of 150 children under ten years of age, not two in a year suflfer this 
kind of pimishment. In Baden the teacher is not allowed to strike a scholar 



1838. HOUSE— No. 64. • 65 

without obtaining permission of the school inspector, and in this way all 
hasty and vindictive punishments are prevented. The daily singing of re- 
ligious hymns is one of the most efficient means of bringing a school under 
a perfect discipline by moral influence. 

4. What is generally the best method of teaching ? 

Mr. W. As much as possible by conversation ; as little as may be by mere 
book recitation. The pupil must always learn from the book. 

Mr. K. Lively conversation. Very few teachers in Prussia ever use a 
book in recitation. The pupils study from books, and recite without them. 

Prof. S. The living word in preference to the dead letter. 

5. Employment of female teachers ? 

Mr. W. For young children they do well ; and if good female teachers 
can be obtained, they might perhaps cany female education through without 
the help of male teachers. 

Mr. K. Female teachers have not been much employed in Prussia, they 
are not generally successful. In a few instances they have done well. 

Prof. S. Man is the divinely appointed teacher ; but for small children 
female teachers do well ; and in respect to all that pertains to the heart and 
the fingers they are even better than male teachers. It is not good that fe- 
males should be educated entirely by teachers of their own sex ; the female 
cannot be educated completely without the countenance of man to work 
upon the heart. 

6. Is there any difference in the course of instruction for male and female 
schools ? 

Mr. K. None in the primary schools ? but in the higher schools the course 
of instruction for males is more rigidly scientific than for females ; and some 
branches of study are appropriate to the one class of schools which do not 
at all come into the other, and vice versa. 

7. Public endowments for female schools of a high order? 
Mr. W. There are no such endowments in Scotland. 

Mr. K There are very few in Prussia : only one in Berlin, but that a very 
good one. Female schools of a high order are mostly sustained by individ- 
ual effort, under the supervision of the magistrates, but without aid from 
the Government. 

Prof. S. We have none in Baden, nor are they needed for the female. 
The house is her school ; and sucli are her susceptibilities, and her quick- 
ness of apprehension, that she is fitted by Providence to learn from real life; 
and she often learns thus, more successfully than boys can be taught in the 
school. 

8. Number of studies to be pursued simultaneously in the different 
stages of instruction. 

Mr. W. 1 begin with reading and writing (on slates) together, and as the 
scholars advance, increase the number of branches. 
9 



66 . PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. March, 

Mr. K. We begin all together, reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar, &c., 
and so continue throughout. 

Prof. S. The younger the fewer, the older the more. 

9. Infant Schools ? 

Mr. W. For children who are neglected by their parents, for poor or- 
phans, and such like, they are excellent, but parents who are able to take 
care of their own children, ought to do it, and not send them to tlie infant 
school. 

Mr. K. I regard them as highly useful for all classes of children, the rich 
and the poor, the good and the bad ; but the Prussian Government discour- 
ages them, except for the vicious and the neglected. The King admits them 
only where parental instruction cannot be had. 

Prof. S. Highly useful, and very much increasing in Europe. In Italy, 
particularly in Lombardy, they are fast gaining ground under the care of truly 
Christian teachers. 

] 0. The Pestalozzian system ? 

Mr. W. It has many good things, with some quackery. As a whole, it is 
too formal. 

Mr. K. In Prussia, not approved as a whole and in arithmetic entirely 
disused. 

Prof. S. One of the steps by which we arrived at our present stage of ad- 
vancement ; but we have got beyond it now. 

11. Number of pupils to one teacher in the different stages of instruction .-' 
Mr. W. Li the elementary stages, if the teacher has good monitors,* he 

may safely take charge of from ICO to 600 pupils; as they advance, he must 
diminish the number, but only on account of the difficulty of obtaining good 
monitors in the higher branches. 

Mr. K. In Prussia, generally about 40 in the elementary branches, and in 
the higher branches fewer. 

Prof. S. In Baden the maximum is 80, on account of the difficulty, in 
that populous district, of maintaining a sufficient number of schoolmasters 
for the whole population. As the scholars advance, the number is diminished. 

12. Systematic division of the different branches of instruction in schools .'' 
Mr. W. 

Mr. K. The schools in Prussia are all divided according to the different 
branches, and each branch has its own teacher. 

Prof. S. Not good to attempt a systematic division in the elementary 
schools, but very useful for the higher schools. Young children need to be 
brought under the influence of one teacher, and not have their attention and 
affection divided among many. 

1.3. Mode of instructing those who are preparing themselves to be 
teachers ? 

* Monitors, in Mr. Wood's Bchool, occupy the place of assistant tenchcru, and eacli class has its 
monitor. 



1838. HOUSE— No. 64. 67 

Mr. W. Employ them as monitors under a good teacher, with some theo- 
retical instruction. This is matter of opinion, not of experience; for we 
have in Scotland no institutions for the preparation of teachers. 

Mr. K. In the seminaries for teachers, there are lectures on the theory of 
education, mode of teaching, &c. ; but the pupils are taught principally by 
practical exercises in teaching the scholars of the model schools attached to 
these institutions, and they also labor to perfect themselves in the branches 
they are to teach. 

Prof. S. The general principles of method may be communicated in lec- 
tures, but schools for actual practical exercise in teaching are indispensable. 
They must also become perfectly familiar with the branches they are to 
teach. 

14. Estimation in which the teacher is held, and his income in propor- 
tion to that of the other professions ? 

Mr. W. With us, rising, in both respects, but as yet far below the other 
professions. 

Mr. K. In Prussia, the elementary teachers are highly respected and 
competently maintained ; they rank as the better sort of mechanics, and 
the head teachers rank next to clergymen. The salaiy low — that of the 
subordinate teachers, very low. 

Prof. S. With us, the worthy teacher holds a respectable rank, and 
can sit at table with noblemen. The salary has recently been raised, but 
it is still below that of the clergyman. 

15. Subordination among teachers ? 

Mr. W. Very desirable, but exceedingly difficult to carry it to any extent. 
Mr. K. As strict subordination among the teachers of the school, as 
among the officers of the army. 
Prof S. Strict subordination must be maintained. 

16. Mode of securing punctual and universal attendance of scholars 
till the full round of instruction is completed? 

Mr. W. By acting on the parents. 

Mr. K. By strict laws, rigorously executed. 

Prof S. By law. 

17. Control of teachers over their scholars out of school hours ? 

Mr. W. The laws of the school ai'e never to be violated, even out of 
school hours. Difficult to carry it any further. 

Mr. K The teacher has the control, so far as he can get it. Government 
sustains him in it. 

Prof S. In all that relates to the school, the teacher must have the con- 
trol out of school hours. 

18. How are schools affected by political changes in the administration 
of the government? 

Mr. W. We have had fears, but as yet have suffered no actual evil. 
Mr. K. We have no changes ia Prussia. 



68 PROFESSOR STOWE'S REPORT. Mar. '38. 

Prof. S. The school must remain sacred and inviolate, untroubled by po- 
litical changes. 

19. School apparatus and library ? 

Mr. W. Very desirable, but little done that way, as yet, in Scotland. 

Mr. K. Most of our schools are provided with them, and we consider 
them veiy important. 

Prof. S. The teachers must have access to good books ; and if they are 
industrious and skilful, the pupils will not suffer for want of a library. 

20. How can accuracy of teaching be seciu-ed ? 
Mr. W. Every thing depends on the teacher. 

Mr. K. Very accm-ate in Prussia ; the Government will have it so. 

Prof. S. The teacher must understand his profession, and devote himself to it. 

21. Governmental supervision of schools, and mode of securing respon- 
sibility in the supervisors ? 

Mr. W. I cannot tell. In this country it is very inefficient, as it must be, 
unless the visitors receive pay for their services. 

Mr. K. In this country the governmental supervision is very strict, and 
produces a veiy happy influence. The supervisors are paid for their work, 
and oblidged to attend to it. Responsibility is secured by requiring minute 
and accurate periodical reports, and by a special visitation as often as once 
in three years. 

Prof S. The supervisors must be paid ; there must be strict subordina- 
tion, accurate returns, and special visitations. 

22. How are good teachers to be obtained in sufficient numbers ? 
Mr. W. I cannot tell. It is difficult here. 

Mr. K. By means of our teachers' seminaries — we have them in abun- 
dance. 

Prof S. By teachers' seminaries, and private teaching, we have enough. 
In your country it must always be difficult while there is such an amount of 
business accessible which is so much more lucrative. 

23. Extent of qualification demanded of elementary teachers ? 
Mr, W. In Scotland, there is no general rule. 

Mr. K. if Prof S. In Prussia and Baden, the demands are ample, and 
rigidly enforced. 

24. Governmental supervision of private schools ? 
Mr. W. Of doubtful expediency. 

Mr. K. Very strict in Prussia, and altogether beneficial in its influence. 
Prof S. Leave tlie private schools free, but regulate them, and see that 
the teachers do their duty. 

25. Associations of teachers ? 

Mr. W. Not yet introduced in Scotland, but veiy desirable. 

Mr. K. if Prof. S. Highly useful, and demanded and regulated by the 
Government. Written essays and discussions, and mutual commmiication 
of experience, the business of these Associations. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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